


Shin Makoku's Foundation Anniversary

by Kazaha_87



Series: Roll With The Wind [1]
Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-03-28 20:24:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 38,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3868618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazaha_87/pseuds/Kazaha_87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six years from Yuuri's arrival in Shin Makoku, finally the Maoh, who's now merging with his other self inside of him, musters the courage to call off the engagement with Wolfram, but this is not necessarily a bad thing, because the Fates, after Shinou played with them for more than a reason, start to flow again through the right path...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Forced New Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hepona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hepona/gifts).



> Obviously, I don't own Kyou Kara Maou!, nor the setting or the characters.
> 
> By the way, I made many assuptions on the canon and I just invented a few other things, like the Soukoku's powers, or the source of the demonic power, which here come from the pact with the gods which govern the elements (and not just the elements themselves), and the names of these gods are from the pagan panthei. So there will be Nordic Gods near Indian ones, etc. I hope you won't mind...
> 
> The title of the series, "Roll with the Wind", is inspired by an Alexander Rybak's song, a very sad one.  
> When I started, I wanted a devastated Wolfram, but it seems he is stronger than I initially thought (and it seems I can't see him sad...), so, although the meaning changed, the title remained, because to roll with the wind is not necessarily a sad or bad thing! Don't you agree? ;)
> 
> Sorry for grammar mistakes: english is not my native language and this is the first time I write something in english... so, please, forgive me!  
> (also, if anybody want to help, and, maybe, beta this story, you're welcome!)
> 
> That's all for now... and I really, really hope you'll enjoy, because I'm enjoying myself writing it very very much!

Yuuri was going back inside from his training with Conrad when he saw the sage by horse entering the stables.

Exactly two weeks passed since the last time Ken was at the castle, kept busy at the temple by the priestesses because of the preparations for the Anniversary of the Reign Foundation, in twenty days from now.

Actually, the festivity was on August the 13th, and started in the morning by the temple to pay tribute to Shinou Heika – the First King, Founder of Shin Makoku, now, almost four thousand eleven years ago – and continued by the castle.

“Murata!”, the Maoh greeted him, joining him running while his friend was dismounting, and he accompanied him inside to tie the animal.

“Shibuya!”

“Murata, you’re here at last! You finally got free from the priestesses and their slavery?”, he asked, noting his friend was quite fatigued, but happy to see him after so long.

Actually, during normal routine, the sage visited the castle twice a week at least, and it wasn’t rare to see him at supper and, in those cases, staying for the night.

“To tell you the truth, I sneaked off while Ulrike distracted the guard at the gate for me. Then, when she saw me, partly because the vestals can’t normally go out, partly because I was by horse and she was by foot, I was able to run away.”, the sage explained with a satisfied smile while knotting the rein to a hook on the wall.

“I see you and Ulrike get on quite well!”, Yuuri pointed out, quite surprised. It was rare for them to talk about the First Priestess, and he never thought there was such an understanding between him and the little woman – who resembled more a young girl than a grown up, despite her eight hundred and more years under her belt.

“Yes” was all Ken answered about that statement. “But, tell me”, he changed subject, “How are the preparations going on here at the castle?”, he asked while they were on their way inside.

They were walking with a relaxed pace on the main route, and the sage almost chuckled when he saw the expression on his friend’s face: totally explicative of what Yuuri was thinking at the moment, and, by the look, it was nothing pleasant.

“ _Don’t_ _laugh!_ ”, the king complained. “You know I _hate_ festivities in general, and _this one_ above all! These preparations last _more than a month_! By the way…”, Yuuri suddenly changed topic together with tone and expression, passing from prickly to pleading in just an instant – something he learnt from his blond fiancé. “You’ll cover for me this year too, do you? I already bore two whole weeks of _pure hell_ and I’m going mad!”

Ken sighed. “You should come to the temple and I’m sure you’ll _never_ complain again about Lord von Christ and Lady Cheri…”

“Oh, _please_ , Murata!!”

They were now passing near the training camp and the sage shot a glimpse on his left, pretending to look at his friend; then he put an arm around his shoulders and he nestled him, drawing him nearer.

And after that, in an eliciting voice that made the king blush, he whispered in his ear “Shibuya…”, and he took a long pause to enjoy the surprise and the embarrassment drawn on his face. And just when he was enough satisfied, with a smirk he added “ _Only_ if you’ll pass a week at the temple _with me_ …”, and he marked on the last two words as if they were hiding a second meaning.

After a moment of total disbelief, Yuuri stopped and shouted, trying and failing to free himself from the discomforting hug, “But Murata!! Please!! You can’t do this to me!”

The sage casted a new glance on his left and then, with a grin stacked on his face, went back on the Maoh.

“Take or leave, Shibuya! You can choose!”

“Oh, _pretty please_!!”, Yuuri decided to beg, trying – and failing – the puppy eyes technique, no shame left in him: it was for a greater good!

At that moment, Ken stopped and abruptly turned around to him, squeezing his face between his hands and picking it dangerously near, so that their noses almost touched, as if his intent was to kiss him.

The nickname ‘Ero-Geika’ was more than deserved…

Yuuri, bright red till the ears and the neck, didn’t have the time to protest because a fireball almost struck them as a warning shot.

“ _DON’T. YOU. DARE!_ ”, a voice shouted behind Yuuri, who closed his eyes heaving a sigh, while Ken wore the usual annoying smirk of when Little Lord Brat _at his_ _worst_ was concerned.

‘ _Damn both of them_ ’, the Maoh thought, trying to regain his composure: _everything_ was clear _now_.

“ _YUURIII!!_ ”, the king heard, “ _YOU CHEATER!!_ ”

“Oh, Wolf!”, he couldn’t stop himself from complaining, “You know I did _nothing_!”, but he didn’t have the time to go on, that another fireball was shot at them, missing the target of _the shooter’s_ complaining by millimeters, shutting the double black up immediately.

“ _NOTHING_!”, Wolfram repeated, outraged in his intelligence, “Do you _seriously_ believe I didn’t see you two _a moment ago_?!”, he asked, indignant, “If I didn’t stop you, the fuckin’ sicko would have kissed you! _Did you notice?!_ ”, he continued to shout in a huff, “Or were you just _too_ _mesmerized_?!”, he concluded in a snort.

“Wolf…”, the king sighed loudly and resigned, totally fed up with all the big misunderstanding which made them both suffer until now, although for different reasons. “Listen: I know you’re jealous by nature, but _please_ , leave Murata alone. You know _perfectly well_ he does it just to provoke you! So, please stop putting it _continuously_ on me. I’m _tired_.”

Everything was so very true, and Wolfram knew it, but this knowledge alone wasn’t enough to stop him from being deeply annoyed by the view of Yuuri, _his_ _fiancé_ , flirting openly with someone who wasn’t him, consenting or not.

“I don’t care.”, he affirmed, fire in the eyes and on the palms of both his hands, “I’m fed up _far more_ than _you_ are! I can’t stand to see you flirting with that fuckin’ asshole of a flirt”, he pointed his index at the sage only after throwing the fireball on his right hand to the said sage, drawing it dangerously near his face, “or with _everybody_ _else_ under _my bloody eyes_!! He’s your _fuckin’ best friend_! You have to _stop_ , one day or another, to be the object of his jokes to _your_ or _my_ detriment! And the sooner, the better! _AND YOU!!_ ”, he spitted, fairly over the angered stage, pointing at him again, his arm completely stretched in his direction. “Stop _immediately_ to sneer at me, or else I swear by Shinou that _I’ll roast you_ extra-crispy, so _the_ _entire_ _world_ will be _finally_ free of your _fuckin_ ’ tricks!”, with a heavy breathe, Wolfram turned again to his fiancé, moving his finger from the sage to the king. “ _Now_ ”, he snapped, glaring eyes, “you, follow me.”, ordered, and in another sigh, Yuuri started obeying but was interrupted.

“Lord von Bielefeld”, Ken called the blond back in a – too – calm voice, “it seems like no-one taught you in almost ninety years that pointing at people is _extremely_ rude…”, Ken teased him, now with an open smirk on his lips _and_ through his eyes.

After a moment of shock, Wolfram, glaring dangerously at him, started to summon his fire-lion, mumbling something like ‘I swore, and _you_ asked for _it_! Great Agni, I, your faithful servant, am asking for your power to summon Lexus, the great fire-lion, to burn into ashes this—“, but he was stopped by two hands on his shoulders that made him turn by force of one hundred eighty degrees.

“God knows how much he deserves it, _but_ _refrain_ _yourself_.”, Yuuri ordered and something in his tone, but _not_ in his eyes, made the blond shiver and obey. “Now”, he continued, “Go upstairs. I’ll follow”, and in a blink of an eye every impulse to fry the sage was totally gone, and without turning back, Wolfram went inside and moved to their room.

Yuuri, when Wolfram was far enough not to hear, approached his friend.

“ _Murata_.”, he reprimanded him with just his name, but he was the Great Sage, who lived for more than four thousand years, and he was used to a king far more frightening – in a way – than the Water Wielder Maoh in front of him, compassionate and merciful by nature in contrast with _his_ Maoh, “Everything you did or said was unnecessary, but the last comment was totally _uncalled for_.”, he pointed out in an icy glare, dryly.

 _“Gomen, gomen!”,_ the sage defused with a knowing glare. “But now it’s better if you hurry up: I’m sure poor Little Lord Brat is pissing himself in his pants after seeing your reaction. I guess he didn’t expect to _feel_ the Maoh without _seeing_ it…”, and a vexatious smile showed on the spectacled young man in front of him.

Yuuri was the first to leave after a long glare of open challenge, _not_ loosing but _postponing_ : on one thing Ken was right, and it was that Wolfram had the priority, because there was a matter – which he delayed far too much and far too long – that had to be taken care of. Once and for all.

-&-

When Yuuri opened the door of his room, he found the blond prince by the window, looking outside without seeing. He didn’t sense his presence, totally lost in his thoughts.

“Wolf”, the king called, trying to collect his attention.

He had to call him twice before Wolfram turned to his side with a jump.

“Yuuri…” was all he said. The young double black knew by a mere glance that there was more, more that Wolfram wanted to say, so he waited patiently a couple of minutes, but only the silence answered him.

“Wolf”, he repeated after taking place on the edge of his big bed. “Do you mind coming here and sit down next to me, please?”

Clearly startled, Wolfram obeyed reluctantly.

When he sat down, Yuuri saw distinctly that Wolfram’s hands were shivering.

“Don’t be afraid of me, please! You are _the last_ person who needs it!”

“Who’s afraid of _you_!”, he remarked, “You’re speaking as if I’ve never seen the Maoh in you! It’s not _that_.”

“Then what is it?”, Yuuri asked, just a little confused. ‘ _Damned Murata_ ’, he thought, ‘ _putting strange ideas into my head…_ ’

“It’s _you_ the one who has to tell me what it is.”, Wolfram replied in an impersonal tone, as if he knew what was coming and was already trying to protect himself from the blow.

Yuuri looked away for a moment, but soon went back with his eyes to him, mustering up all his courage.

“Wolf”, he repeated for the fourth time and took one of the blond’s shuddering hands in his and to his lap. “You know I really, _really_ care for you.”, he started, and Wolfram fixed his eyes on him. “I’m not sure you know it, but _you_ are my best friend. Not Murata, nor everybody else…”, Yuuri confessed, “You’re like a brother to me… in a way, the little brother I never had and I always wanted instead of my possessive big bro…”, he chuckled a little, trying and miserably failing to defuse the atmosphere, so he continued, “You’re my most important person until now…”

“But you don’t love me”, Wolfram stated in a flat tone, completing Yuuri’s speech.

“Not in the way you’d want me to.”, the young king admitted at last, heaving a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

Wolfram slowly stood up, releasing his now strongly shaking hand from the other’s grip. He had to breath in and breath out a few times before being able to speak again, but he maintained his composure even in a moment like that, while it would have been considered quite normal to have a meltdown.

But Wolfram stayed still.

“I understand”, he avouched in a firm voice, leaving Yuuri speechless. “I’ll give immediate order to free your room from my belongings.”, and he was ready to leave that the king stopped him with a question… a silly one.

“Where will you stay?”, Yuuri asked, forgetting for a moment that Wolfram had his own quarters in another wing of the castle, because by now it was almost four years that they shared the royal ones.

Wolfram turned back and raised an eyebrow in his usual prideful attitude of his.

“In _my_ quarters, _obviously_!”, he remarked, and snorted the moment he saw the relieved expression on his now ex-fiancé’s face.

After that, he left, graciously closing the king’s door behind him, just to hurry down the stairs and to the stables.

“Lord von Bielefeld”, a well-known voice recalled him by the front door, and the blond could recognize a smirk with no need to watch at his face. “I’m looking for Shibuya. Is he still upstairs?”, the sage asked.

It wasn’t the truth: he wasn’t, but messing with Little Lord Brat was his favorite hobby when he was there at the castle, because he became bored quite easily recently…

“Look for yourself, _Your Eminence_.”, Wolfram spouted out without even dignifying the Daikenja with a mere glance, and Ken, not seen, grinned evilly at his back.

-&-

“Heika? Might you know, by any chance, where Wolfram is?”, Conrad asked at supper to his godson, and he worried when the king didn’t correct him but just shrugged.

“I saw him approximately four hours ago from the window of my office: he was leaving _by horse_.”, Gwendal stated, glaring menacing at the Maoh. “I did not see him coming back.”, he spouted, accusing.

Yuuri gulped, but said nothing.

“ _Heika?!_ ”, Gunter stressed the sobriquet as usual, “ _What happened?!_ ”, the Adviser asked, slightly panicking – _that_ also as usual – “ _Did you two fight again?!_ ”

Yuuri deeply inhaled and slowly exhaled.

“Well…”, he started, but he didn’t know how to continue and breathed heavily again.

“ _Shibuya_ ”, the sage reprimanded him, suddenly serious, forcing him with just a glare and the tone of his voice to go on.

Yuuri sighed.

“The betrothal is now nullified.”, he affirmed formally, staring intently at Ken and feeling betrayed by the only one he _hoped_ to have on his side in _that_ precise moment… a totally disregarded hope.

A loud and choral “ _WHAAAT?!?_ ” filled the air, and, where the reaction of some of the ones there was dramatic – see Gunter that almost fainted and Gwendal that stood up and jabbed hard at the table just _not_ to pack a punch to the king – Ken, instead, slowly brought his hand to his face and fixed up his spectacles on his nose with the middle finger, his eyes, round, hidden behind the reflection.

“Gwendal”, the king pleaded after a long and tense silence. “He is ok, so, please, sit down again. And everybody calm down. _Please_.”

“ _He is OK?!_ ”, the demon repeated in a deep and dry voice, stressing those three words, astonished and indignant, and again, now louder, the earth trembling under their feet: “ _HE IS OK!!_ ”; and he thrust out his chair, throwing himself to the king’s collar. “ _If_ , by any chance, you _believe_ that Wolfram is _OK_ , _Sire_ , you are the _king_ of the moronic _assholes_!!”, Wolfram’s big brother shouted at his face and, wasn’t it for the delicate moment, Ken would have laughed his ass off at the priceless scene of total outburst in front of his eyes.

Unexpectedly, it was Gunter the one who stopped him from going on.

“ _Gwendal_ ”, the usually frivolous man spelled out slowly in a hiss, a hand firm around his wrist still on the Maoh’s collar. “I’m quite sure His Majesty _knows_ you are just worried about Wolfram, but this is _treasonous_.”

And, miraculously, Gwendal lowered the grip and, breathing in and out just once or twice, he regained his normal composure and went back to his seat under some incredulous stares.

“My lords… and my ladies”, the sage stepped in, breaking the ‘deafening’ silence which fell on them. “I am sure we do not need to worry: Lord von Bielefeld is a very talented soldier, so nothing to be anxious about. He definitely will be back soon. Anyway, if tomorrow morning he still won’t be back, we will mail Lord Waltrana von Bielefeld just to be sure he did _not_ depart for his lands as he did last time.”

“He didn’t depart for the Bielefeld territories, Murata. He said to me that he would have gone back to his quarters. He _assured_ me, and I can tell if he lies. And he didn’t lie.”, Yuuri chimed in, but no-one replied.

-&-

Meanwhile, Wolfram, some meters afar from the stables, stopped one of his soldiers who was passing by and ordered him to use the maximum discretion while asking the servants for him to get rid of his belongings inside the royal chambers and bring them back to his quarters.

By the way, discretion or not, Wolfram was well aware that the news would have spread really fast, and his plan was to keep distant from the blow just enough to adjust, and coming back psychologically prepared for the questioning and the gossip.

And only when he was miles and miles away from the castle and from random people, lost somewhere in the deep of the wood, he allowed himself the luxury of crying out loud and indulged himself in tears and sobs without a second thought until they ceased on their own a couple of hours later.

At that time the sun was already setting, but he was exhausted to move, he wasn’t hungry at all and he had no idea of where he was, so he decided to take a nap under a tree and to wait for the next morning light to find his way back.

He brought nothing to camp, but it was summer, and he never found it a difficult issue to sleep wherever he was, adapting easily to every kind of situation or place, so he didn’t care resting there, and there he remained.

-&-

“Shibuya… may I share a word with you?”, the sage asked the king after dinner, and the last one brought him upstairs to his own office.

“What is it?”, Yuuri inquired dryly once inside, still angry with him, but Ken, strangely enough, _hesitated_.

“So?”, he insisted at his silence, and was shocked at his friend’s four words that followed.

“Was it my fault?”, the sage asked, staring at him in the eyes, showing, maybe for the first time Yuuri was able to recall, some concern.

Yuuri chuckled a bit, startled.

“So you _do_ have a conscience hidden somewhere inside of you!”, he pointed out, a little amused by the situation and that ‘out-of-character’ question, and Ken, raising an eyebrow, had to admit defeat.

“Maybe”, he conceded.

“Anyway”, Yuuri continued, “No. I didn’t call off the engagement out of a whim, and you should know better.”, he declared, suddenly serious. “I did it for mine and _especially_ Wolfram’s sake, and he will understand that it’s better this way. It’s better for both of us. And I couldn’t stand the hurt in his eyes anymore. I didn’t want to risk losing him, but it was time to put an end to this sad and foolish farce…”

Ken raised the same eyebrow than before.

“A _farce_!”, he repeated, “He _loves_ you, did you ever considered this?”, the sage pointed out.

“I know, and _that’s_ why. I tried, tried to see him as a lover, but I wasn’t able to see him the same way he saw me. For me”, he tried to clarify, “Wolfram is a brother, a dear brother and the best of friends. I want to protect him, to preserve his heart from the world woe, but maybe I had to preserve him from falling in love with me… and I know he’s beautiful, but I really can’t see him in _that_ way.”, he tried to explain.

Once again the same raised eyebrow.

“Did you _really_ tried?”, Ken asked, totally skeptical, and that angered Yuuri: after everything he said, _that_ was _all_ that reached him!?

“ _YES! I TRIED!!_ ”, he shouted, deeply offended, – and it was something truly _rare_ to hear the king shout out loud – “I didn’t _trumpet_ it because I felt _ashamed_! But _I tried_!”, he repeated, “I _hate_ to see Wolfram suffering! There’s _nothing_ I hate more than _this_! And I tried to go along with his wishes, but it didn’t work! _And_ I tried to _jack off_ thinking about him, but I _couldn’t_! Happy now you know?! It seems to me like, for all of you, _no exceptions_ , Wolf is the only one who’s suffering and suffered!! _Well_ ”, he spouted, “I’ll tell you a secret: I have a heart _too_!”, he asserted, sarcastic and irate. “Now, if that’s all, you can _leave_.”, and so Yuuri closed the issue.

“I’m sorry if I insulted you, Shibuya. It really wasn’t my intention.”, Ken looked into his eyes for a mere second before hiding his gaze behind the reflection on his spectacles lenses when he reclined his head in a slight gesture that gave just a hint of a bow but nothing more. At the king’s silence, he moved to the door but he stopped by it and turned around again. “By the way”, Ken added, “I’m relieved to see you matured enough to take on _your_ shoulders the burden of your responsibilities.”, he stated, serious and earnest, before leaving.

“ _Lord von Voltaire!_ ”, Ken hissed, startled and a little bit annoyed, _not_ before the Maoh’s office door was closed behind himself. “I must admit I would have never thought to find _you_ – above all – _eavesdropping_ at someone’s conversation.”, then, after a short pause, he continued, “But, forasmuch as you were the _first_ of Yozak’s tutors, maybe it is _my_ fault if I did not guess at least _this_ much before now…”

The General had at least the decorum of turning pink – although slightly – at the sage’s statement, but he didn’t have the time to answer nor apologize that the double black was already gone.

And when Ken, finally, set a foot inside his quarters there at the castle and shut the door with a dull thud, a bad feeling, like an omen, assailed him.

He tried hard to ignore it, but after less than ten minutes, heaving a sigh, he was outside again, alone and in a hurry, heading straight for the stables.

-&-

It was almost two in the morning that Nemesis – Wolfram’s horse – started neighing loudly, trying to wake up his master from his usual heavy sleep.

He eventually succeeded, but at the time Wolfram was already surrounded.

He stood up, sword promptly in his hand, en garde and now wide-awake.

“Look at what a _beauty_ we’ve here tonight at our mercy!”, one of the six men surrounding him claimed in a smirk and a crinkly voice, and the others laughed hard.

“ _What a pretty prey!!_ ”, another uttered, satisfied. “Tonight it’ll be a very _long_ and nice night, at least!”, they laughed again.

Wolfram raised an eyebrow and, after a short moment of shock, he burst into laughter, tickled pink, under the dumbstruck faces of his assailants.

“ _WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!_ ”, shouted angrily the first one who talked before, and Wolfram gathered that he had to be their leader.

“ _You_ , my dear fellows!”, the blond demon answered, still laughing, but now more mildly.

“ _How dare you?!_ ”, the man behind him approached, trying to stab him in the back, but Wolfram muttered something and without even turning around stretched his left arm in his direction and a fireball hit his enemy, burning him alive as a pyre.

“Now, are you starting to understand who is in front of you, _my dear fellows_?”, Wolfram instigated them with a mad grin, “Although if you were double numbered compared to the number you are now, you _still_ couldn’t stand a chance against _me_!”, he stated, perfectly calm.

“ _We’ll see!_ ”, the leader challenged him, and a seventh man Wolfram didn’t sense before, hidden behind a tree not far from them, threw a long cane with a Houseki stone set on top of it to their leader and then he joined them in the circle with an evil grin.

‘ _How could I not sense it?!_ ’, Wolfram thought by himself, stunned and starting to feel weak while the known pain spread through his chest.

He stood still, but only for a few moments, just until the man started to mutter something in a feeble voice.

It had to be some kind of spell to amplify the stone powers, because he soon fell on his knees, panting and grasping for air, totally paralyzed.

‘ _Shit!_ ’, he cursed in his head.

“We’d have just ‘played’ with you a lil bit, but you killed one of us.”, their leader shouted, dead serious. “So we’ll _fuck_ you and then we’ll kill you _mercilessly_! Exactly as you did before!” he declared in his squawk voice. Then, one of the men behind Wolfram approached him and, a knife in his left hand pointed to his neck, he started to slice his attire with another one in his right.

“ _Screw you!!_ ”, he hissed, defeated while other two men hold him by the wrists and the first one cut off the buttons of his favorite jacket and sliced his shirt to show his pale skin.

“ _On my dead body!_ ”, Wolfram shouted when another one hit to his trousers. He was going to throw himself on the first one in front of him, not caring anymore for the consequences of his acts neither about the fact that they restrained him in their grips nor of the stone, that all seven men fell together on the ground in a loud scream of pain.

They soon started to recover, but meanwhile someone approached them and took their leader hostage with a knife at his throat and threw the cane planted in the ground far from them, mumbling some words that stopped the amplification of the stone power.

“If I were you, I would leave him alone and run for your lives.”, the savior said and Wolfram opened his eyes wide and, with difficulty, he looked up, not believing his own ears.

Everybody hesitated so, just to be more convincing, the man showed them again his own power, focusing on the seventh man, the nearest one to him, who fell on the ground again agonizing for a few seconds before passing out.

At this point everybody run, and he left them go, deciding that aiding the blond soldier had the priority.

“ _How did you do it?_ ”, Wolfram shouted once the villains left them alone, stunned and still short-breathed. “I didn’t know you had a similar power…”

“I never liked to use it. In a few hours it’ll bring consequences that will last for hours, sometimes for days, and no pain-killer takes effect for the headache. So, I hope you’ll take responsibility…”, he insinuated while offering him a hand to help him stand up.

Wolfram seemed to think about it, but at the end he accepted it. Then, when he stood up, his knees yielded and he had to grab on to him to stand still.

His savior passed an arm around his chest and helped him walk to his horse, indulging his fingers where they found his bare skin, and Wolfram wasn’t able not to blush at the touch, but he couldn’t complain, at least not this once: he saved his life and his virtue, actually, and he was helping him to get to his horse…

“May I help you to mount?”, the man asked, and, although Wolfram declined, he remained near him to assist, just in case, and only when he was on Nemesis he left to reach his own horse.

Then Wolfram froze, shocked by himself, when he realized in a shiver that he found _the_ _loss_ of the man’s fingers touch _worse_ than the contact itself.

“Shall we leave?”, the man asked him with an unnerving smirk not visible in the dark but perceivable in his voice when, once on his horse too, he saw the blond seemed distracted and didn’t seem like spurring his own mount to move.

“Of course”, Wolfram spouted and took the lead only to stop the moment later.

“What’s up?”, the man behind him asked, startled and suddenly on the alert, and the blond, luckily not seen, blushed furiously.

“…I don’t know where we are…”, he had to admit after a long and embarrassed silence, and the double black laughed his ass off, and continued for a couple of minutes non-stop.

“ _Stop laughing! It’s not funny!_ ”, Wolfram complained angrily in a pose, but he had to concede it was – at least a little – and eventually he found himself chuckling too.

“We are north-west from the castle, so that way”, at last Ken pointed to a direction in front of them, a bit on their left. “Would you prefer if _I_ take the lead?”, he asked grinning, but Wolfram composed himself again and accepted the sage’s challenge, so _he_ guided.

“By the way…”, Wolfram broke the silence after almost ten minutes of ride, “Would you consider letting me know which affairs did you have at _two_ in the morning in a place like this, so deep into the wood?”

“I was here to save a prince in distress, obviously.”, was Ken’s quick answer in a big smile and suddenly Wolfram reined in and turned to watch at his face.

“ _Why can’t you stop joking?!_ ”, he complained, raising his voice, “At least in a moment like _this_!”

“Strange that it may sound, it’s the truth, my lord.”, the sage stated in an unreadable tone, and Wolfram couldn’t prevent himself from turning slightly pink.

Then he spurred Nemesis again and turned to watch in front of him before talking again.

“May I ask you what’s the meaning of it? And why are you alone? I’ll explain you”, he rephrased, “you know: for me, it is quite _strange_ to see this particular side of you… the side which _cares_ …”, he pointed out.

“You see”, Ken answered carefully, “it’s unusual for me to share this particular side with you… with _anyone_ , to be more precise…”

“So why didn’t you send my brothers or my men to look for me or why didn’t you come with anyone? And _more important_ : _how_ did you _know_ where to find me when _neither I_ knew where I was?”

“I am truly sorry, but you won’t receive an answer to these questions.”, Ken eluded and Wolfram reined in again.

“Don’t you believe I have the _right_ to know?! Just now you _claimed_ you came to _save_ me! And you _despise_ me! So _why_?!”, the blond insisted, literally inflamed as the Fire Wielder he was.

“I believe you misunderstood more than an issue here…”, Ken pointed out with his usual irritating smirk, “First: I am confident I never declared I despise you; and second: you won’t receive an answer because _I_ _myself_ have _no_ answer.”, he declared and Wolfram’s heart skipped a beat.

“What do you mean?”, the blond demon couldn’t refrain himself from asking.

“Exactly what I said, my lord.”, Ken answered while looking into his eyes, and then he took the lead. “But if you continue to stop your horse”, he changed the issue, teasing him, “by this pace it will take not just all the night but also _all_ _the day_ to go back.”, a grin drew on his face while Wolfram blushed furiously.

Then they continued their straddle in silence for more than an hour, when suddenly started to pour and Ken took off his jacket and put it on his head, trying to cover himself from the rain.

They raised the pace but the sight was limited because of the rain and the ground was rough because they were still in the wood.

“ _Shit!_ ”, the sage shouted at some point and Wolfram stopped abreast of him, concerned.

“What happened?”, the blond asked briefly.

“My horse hamstringed itself.”, Ken cut short.

“Dismount”, Wolfram ordered him and Ken quickly obeyed and grabbed the blond’s hand, which helped him to get on his horse behind him. Then the demon gripped the sage’s horse reins to draw it home with them and slowed down the pace again for the animal.

“Thank you”, the sage said on a whim and Wolfram’s muscles tensed for an instant.

‘ _Thank you?!_ ’, he thought. Two simple words, but in six long years it was the first time he heard them said in earnest to him by the sage, and he couldn’t help but blush.

Luckily for him, Ken didn’t notice, but he noticed him shivering, although the double black thought it was because they were soaking wet in the cool air of a rainy night.

First thing first, the sage put his own jacket, before on his own head alone, on Wolfram’s head too, and then he drew his arms around his bosom and under his dripping cut shirt, bare skin under his fingers, bringing him closer.

“ _What…!_ ”, Wolfram jerked with sudden goose bumps all over his body, his heart skipping a beat, and then another, his breast starting moving faster up and down while asking for more air.

“You’re cold.”, the sage cut off, now dead serious, not a shadow of a grin nor a smile in his voice, and it was so strange, so unusual! “And so am I.”, he stated, “This way, when my hands will warm up, you’ll gain warmth from me and vice versa, now that our clothes are getting cold. So, please, bear with it.”

Wolfram bit his bottom lip trying to regain his composure and to calm down and _failing_ , but he didn’t complain: the pervy sage was quite exhaustive this once, and he was serious… and he asked ‘ _please’_! How could he complain? Nevertheless, he was the sage. Wolfram often forgot it, but not now… not now that he was considerate _for_ _him_!

“I’m sorry. I know it could be embarrassing, but _please_ ,”, he remarked again, “Endure. The ride is still long…”, Ken whispered in his ear when he noticed that Wolfram’s breathe was still faster than normal after some minutes, but his words, apparently, made it worse, because the blond shivered _more_ and he _seriously_ started to hyperventilate.

It wasn’t his intention, it _really_ wasn’t, but the contact, the touch with someone that _responded_ to him, and – strange enough – did nothing to get rid of him, made Ken start to get a hard on, his pupils now helplessly dilated.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm down, but with his eyes closed the proximity made him an easy prey of his perfume, that reached his nostrils in spite of the pouring rain.

Then Ken suddenly released him and made himself some inches behind, his hands now on Wolfram’s shoulders just to be sure not to fall down the animal.

“Ok…”, he stated in an unusual feeble voice, sounding _so_ odd out of _his_ lips, “Maybe I’ll bear with the cold…”, Ken sighed, and Wolfram, despite everything – because he felt the difference and the cold soon enough after breaking the contact –, sighed with _relief_.

When they arrived by the castle it was half past five in the morning.

They left their horses in their stalls into the stables and moved inside.

“Please, go inform Lord von Voltaire _immediately_ that his brother is back home and he is safe.”, the sage said in a steady voice to the guard by the front door and the man followed his orders.

“Why all this haste?”, Wolfram innocently asked him once they were left alone in the hallways.

Ken chuckled.

“You had to be there at supper.”, he stated and then he parroted the Chancellor, mimicking his voice and his serious tone, “ _If, by any chance, you believe Wolfram is ok, Sire, then you are the king of the moronic assholes._ ”, he cited literally and Wolfram burst abruptly into laughter and then stopped a few moments later.

“Are you making fun of me?”, he asked, suddenly growing annoyed, but Ken put his right hand on his heart and bowed a little.

“I promise. They were his very words.”

Wolfram raised an eyebrow but smiled.

Fancy that, because he never thought he would have smiled again _so_ _soon_.

“ _Wolfram!!_ _What happened to you?!_ ” a deep voice behind them from up the stairs shouted, concerned.

“Brother!”, Wolfram greeted Gwendal bowing slightly and in a calm voice he answered him, “Nothing special. You do not need to worry.”

“ _Nothing special_?!”, Gwendal repeated, an eyebrow raised dangerously. “ _Look at yourself!_ You’re half naked! Your clothes sliced! And you dare to say it’s _nothing special_?!”, he reprimanded him.

“It was just a little ‘adventure’. But nothing happened, and I’m really tired and soaked wet. I’ll report to you later, brother. I need a hot bath… _we_ need a hot bath”, he specified, now facing the sage, and it was now Ken’s turn to skip a heartbeat.

Gwendal glared at the double black, but he just shrug and followed Wolfram up the stairs and, together, they moved past the General without a second glance, straight to their own quarters to take a change and then to the bathrooms.

“After your bath”, Gwendal stopped them half-way, “I’ll wait for you in my office. _The both of you._ ”, the demon specified and, when they disappeared behind a corner, before going back to his office, he went back to his own quarters.

-&-

“Gunter…”, he gently shook him, whispering his name in his ear, but the man jolted with a startled cry and, for this, he gained himself a hard swat on his belly.

“ _Oh, shut up!_ It’s too early for me!”, a female mumbling and sleepy voice complained.

“Sorry”, the two men said in unison.

“By the way, Wolfram is back.”, Gwendal started in a whisper, “And his clothes were in a terrible state, although he said it was _nothing_. And anyway: he was with the _sage_.”, he concluded and Gunter jumped up.

“ _With the sage?!_ ”, he hissed for not shouting, and Anissina hit him again, this time on his head, but the curiosity made her wake up too.

“Yes”, Gwendal flatly answered. “And I sincerely hope I will know the details later: I told them I’ll be waiting for them in my office after their bath.”

“ _THEIR BATH?!_ ”, now Gunter shouted out loud and Anissina stared too, her eyes wide open.

“It’s all that I know, but at least he is back, and he is safe. Now, I’ll leave you sleep a little bit more. Actually _it’s_ still a bit early.”

“What time is it?”, Anissina asked Gwendal.

“It’s almost six.”, he said and the red woman sighed.

If this was, more or less, the usual hour for Gwendal and Gunter to wake up, she was used to sleep at least until seven in the morning, but now she was wide-awake.

“Well, I guess I’ll wake up too. By the way… Since _it’s_ still a bit early, as you said, and you _have_ time before Wolfram and the sage will see you in your office _and_ the two of us are already naked, why not going for ‘good-morning-sex’?”, she lightly proposed them. Gunter shrugged to Anissina and looked at Gwendal, studying him and his conditions, because he knew the man slept less than three hours the night before.

Gwendal sighed and undressed again, climbing up the bed and putting himself in the middle.

“I’m a little bit tired, but I’ll gladly watch and, please, count me in whenever you feel like it. I’ll be here if you want to ride me.”, he calmly stated and tenderly but possessively hugged his two lovers, who were still lying down beside him.

Gunter kissed him first, then was Anissina’s turn, and later the both of them kissed each other and started their ‘little show’ before including Gwendal too.

-&-

“Lord von Bielefeld, am I allowed to ask you why you wanted me to come to the bathrooms with you? Would you like to discuss with me about what _version_ of the story we will tell your brother later?”, Ken asked him calmly once they were both naked in the hot water, finally relaxing in the heat.

“You were cold, and so were I”, Wolfram answered, quoting the double black’s previous words, and the sage half smiled, conceding defeat.

After that statement, the demon closed his eyes and lied his head behind on the tub edge, but Ken, from afar, couldn’t refrain himself from staring at him, his pupils now dilated once again while panting a little.

He knew that Lord von Bielefeld was an alluring creature, but this was starting to be a little bit _too_ much to stand...

Why did he want him _so_ much? And why, above all, was he able to find him into the wood, so far from the castle? And why, before it, did he _know_ _for certain_ that something was going to happen to him?

Something similar happened before _only_ for another one in all his long four thousand years of life…

Was it his blood? …or was it something else?

In both cases it was nothing good, so he decided he didn’t want to know – at least not now – then he closed his eyes and, together with them, he shut his mind too and he allowed himself to rest for a bit, falling asleep without noticing.

“Geika… Geika…”, an hour passed and Wolfram tried to call him to wake him up.

He approached him and shook him gently after calling him _five_ times without results: it seemed he _wasn’t_ the _only_ heavy sleeper here…

Ken slightly opened his eyes and shut them again the moment later.

“L’ve me alone, Shinou…”, he complained mumbling half asleep, “’m tired! Go ‘way! Go annoyin’ Ulrike ‘nstead o’ me!”

Wolfram giggled and Ken opened widely his eyes, startled, not recognizing the sound.

“What! Where! _Lord von Bielefeld!_ ”, he shouted and at the same time he gained space between them and tried to compose himself again, a hard on he _absolutely_ wanted to hide from him and that he tried to get rid of while thinking of something else.

“What is it?”, Ken asked to elude the blond’s attention from him, but Wolfram continued to giggle and it didn’t help him at all. It was an eliciting sound and he turned pink, then Wolfram’s giggles became a chuckling smirk.

“So you can get embarrassed too!”, he pointed out, enjoying himself very much for the unattended accomplishment.

“I’m sorry. I never sleep with someone around”, the sage justified himself, “and the only one who dares to play pranks on me in the morning is _him_ … I’m sorry…”, he repeated. He knew the blond didn’t like to be compared to the First King, but without thinking he did _exactly_ that…

“You know, if only you could be like this more often I think I could start to really like you. I prefer the honest you… And you have nothing to be sorry about: it was an honor to be able to see and _hear_ the Great Sage _snoring_. Now I can blackmail you by telling others the Great Wise Man snores in his sleep!", he teased him, minimizing, and Ken smiled and then smirked.

“Be careful, my lord”, he answered, “Some people could assume you know it because you’re my ‘ _special_ _one’_.”, he remarked, “You know, I had far more than an affair here in Shin Makoku, but _no-one_ saw me sleep before. So, you have a first.”, he pointed out and Wolfram couldn’t help but blush slightly.

“Then it _truly_ is an honor”, he teased him back after just a moment, but soon his voice became serious. “By the way”, he changed topic, “thank you for tonight. You saved my life and my virtue. I don’t know _how_ you found me, but I’m truly grateful... And you might not believe me, but I’m happy it was _you_. Although I don’t know why: so we’re even.”, he smiled at him, a really bright smile, and Ken’s heart skipped a beat. “But now come: we have to get dressed and to go to my brother’s office. And…”, now his tone a little bit uncertain, “Would you mind skipping the attempted rape part, please? I really would appreciate it…”

“Indeed.”, the sage reassured him and then they got out of the water, dried off and got fully dressed, ready to the questioning.

-&-

“ _So_ … you are telling me Wolfram sent _you_ _above all_ a _message_ from the village on the east side of the wood asking you to take him back home and _pay his bills_ because he got smashed and wasn’t able to move from his chair and, _before this_ , he forgot to take some money with him and _for that reason_ he couldn’t stay at the inn. And he asked _you_ because he didn’t want me or Conrad to know about this…

 _And_ , as if it wasn’t enough, when he got drunk he started gambling playing cards and the stake was the other player’s _jacket buttons_ …

 _And this is still_ _not_ _all_! When he lost his precious and _favorite_ buttons of his _favorite_ jacket, he decided to slice his own shirt to distract the winner and gain them back. And you found him like this when you arrived…”, Gwendal concluded, an eyebrow raised in a critically skeptical way and Ken shrugged with a ‘resigned’ grin, his palms up in a theatrical gesture.

“Exactly!”, was the sage’s answer, and Wolfram turned red trying seriously hard not to die from laughing in front of his brother and asking himself how could the sage have such a poker face.

In a couple of occasions he coughed to dissimulate a laughter, because keeping from it was maybe the greatest of challenges he had to face until now in _all_ his life!

Gwendal turned to face his little brother, angrier and more skeptical by the second, but Wolfram glanced down and, bright red in the face, nodded, praying his brother could read his attitude as shame and _not_ as what it really meant.

The General seemed to study his little brother for a very long instant but, at the end, he _seemed_ to believe it.

“I am really sorry, brother… I know I did something very stupid and I made you all worry for me, but I left because I had to ‘adjust’ a little before the questioning and the castle gossip.”, Wolfram said in a serious and a bit shameful tone, stating the truth, or, at least, part of it, so to definitely convince Gwendal they weren’t lying. “I didn’t want you, Conrad or Yuuri to know the extent of my devastation for the end of my engagement with someone I loved dearly.”, he explained, and then he continued, but not before the other two took notice of his ‘I _loved’_ instead of ‘I love’ they were expecting from him.

“I know it was shameful and pointless to act this way, _to get smashed by alcohol_ ”, he remarked and looked at the sage who was able to manage to keep himself from laughing only because he _knew_ the man beside him was stating the truth of how he truly felt, with no shame but just honesty, “but I needed it to start to move on, and _it worked_ , at least a little.”, Wolfram said and kept watching Ken in the eyes for a few seconds, before turning back again to Gwendal. “So, please, brother, don’t judge me, at least this once. I promise I’ll never do something like this again.”, he swore, his right hand on his heart, and Ken knew his promise was _to him_ and _not_ his brother, and it made him smile in a strange way, a way that he knew too well and that he feared for more than four thousand years.

“I won’t judge you”, Gwendal finally stated. “And I am sorry if I did not believe your story…”, he sighed before continuing.

“I understand, I _truly_ do, although I am not sure _you_ will believe my statement. Now, please, go to rest. For today you will have a free day. I will talk to Conrad to assure you won’t be disturbed. And you too”, now Gwendal said to the sage. “Thank you for taking care of my brother. I owe you. And please, no offence, but I must admit I had no idea you had it in you. You often seem…”, he searched for the word and at last he said “detached. Maybe also cold, sometimes. So I am sorry if I misjudged you. I will reconsider.”, he affirmed in a deep bow, standing up behind his desk, and Ken couldn’t help but snort.

“No offence either, but to hear these words from you is _equally_ _unexpected_. Not a bad surprise, anyway.”, the sage smiled at him in a cryptic way, “Lord von Bielefeld is really lucky to have a brother like you.”, he said and bowed too, thinking that all this honesty was strange for him, and then he recalled with a frown Lord von Bielefeld’s exact words of when they were in the baths. “Now, it would be better if I went back to the temple, so, if you would excuse me…”

“ _Us!_ ”, Wolfram quickly corrected the man next to him and looked at him with an uncanny expectation, startling both the sage and his own brother. “Before going to rest, I would like to escort you to the temple.”, he stated looking into Ken’s eyes and leaving him speechless for a couple of seconds.

Then the double black glared at Gwendal waiting for his answer, and the demon briefly nodded; so he turned to Wolfram and, half smiling, nodded to him too.

“It would be a pleasure.”, Ken stated, but, although he was certain it would have been as he said, he wasn’t just as much sure that it would have _also_ been _wise_.

And meanwhile, he took a mental note to ask Yozak to join him at the temple to help him make his little story ‘true’.

-&-

Despite everything, Ken and Wolfram remained silent for more than a few minutes after they already left the castle by horse – the sage taking another animal because of the conditions of his own – the atmosphere between them a little bit tense.

“Geika, your ‘version of the story’ was _astounding_! Neither Yozak has a cool head like yours!”, Wolfram finally smiled at him, giggling and trying hard, this way, to dissolve the heavy air that surrounded them, “I almost cracked up once or twice, and I have no idea about _how_ I was able to keep myself from laughing! And I have even _less_ _ideas_ about how _you_ were able to do it until the end!”, he pointed out, still amused, although a little bit tense.

“It was the first thing that came to mind to cover the part you asked me to avoid”, Ken explained to him in a half smile again, still thinking about Wolfram’s last speech. “By the way… may I ask you something?”, he hesitated, and Wolfram reined in to stop his horse to look into the sage’s eyes, startled by the tone so ‘not like him’.

“Yes?”, Wolfram asked and waited, but Ken, after a long silence and under the demon’s questioning glare, chuckled slightly and shook a hand in the air, minimizing.

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“ _How_ can I forget?!”, he asked, indignant, “I _never_ saw you like this!”, he insisted, so _unnervingly_ earnest, and Ken sighed.

“The truth is that I don’t feel like hearing an answer I already know. At least I don’t need it _now_.”, he confessed and, meanwhile, he cursed himself: after less than a few hours, Lord von Bielefeld’s influence already prevented him from lying in his presence…

“What do you mean? Is it about Yuuri?”, Wolfram asked and unconsciously bit his lower lip.

Ken sighed again.

“No… it’s not about him, but it’s funny you asked that…”

“ _Why?_ ”, and it was clear, written on his face, that he didn’t understand what was going on and what the matter was. “Why is it funny?”

“ _Please?_ ”, Ken prayed, and Wolfram shut his lips in a thin line, fighting against himself – a beautiful fight clearly visible through his eyes – and, after a few moments, he posed again in his usual prideful attitude and spurred his horse in an annoyed “ _Fine_ ”, which stated that it was so much for that, but showed _all_ of his disappointment about him being the one who lost their issue.

“Please, don’t be mad at me, Lord von Bielefeld.”, Ken prayed again, but Wolfram pretended he wasn’t listening nor caring. “I have a feeling that _eventually_ it will soon come the day I will ask you what now I could not, so, _please_ , be patient.”, he said, and cursed himself again.

And it was the third ‘please’ in a few minutes, and every one of them had a different meaning… a different implication, and Wolfram couldn’t _not_ notice that the last one hided a _promise_.

“I hate when you talk like this!”, the blond stated, irritated and annoyed, trying, this way, to hide his embarrassment as much as his expectations, “You arouse my curiosity and then you leave me to bear with it!”, he complained.

“Maybe it’s a plot of mine…”, the sage insinuated, “And, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure _who_ ’s the one who’s playing with fire between us _right now_ …”

“ _You really deserve to be fried alive!_ ”, was all Wolfram answered to the last statement, shouting. “You get on my nerve! _Always!!_ ”, he remarked and snorted exasperated.

“Maybe I’m aiming for it…”, he suggested, and Wolfram raised an eyebrow.

“For being fried alive?”, he asked reclining his head on one side, not understanding, “Or for getting on my nerve?”

But Ken smirked, highly amused, and said nothing.

Then, when after less than a quarter of hour of travelling in silence they arrived, Ken approached his horse to the blond’s one.

“…by the way”, he stated abruptly with a cryptic smile, “the answer of your previous question”, he said and then, when he had all of Wolfram’s attention, he got nearer and, whispering in his ear, he finished: “is for the ‘ _always’_ part.”, making the demon furiously and definitely blush, with no way to hide it from him this time.

Then the sage left without even turning around to say goodbye and entered the temple gates just beckoning to him from behind.

‘ _Fuck him_ ’, Wolfram thought and then left, his face still bright red for the next few minutes. ‘ _One day or another_ _I swear I’ll make him pay for his harassment!_ ’, he promised to himself, but continued blushing.

Was it ‘ _hope_ ’?

…but he didn’t know if he _wanted_ to know…


	2. Waiting for the second big festivity of the year, through revelations and misunderstandings

Two weeks passed fast – or not so very fast for someone – through the preparations for the great festivity by the castle and the temple.

The sage was literally enslaved by the priestesses, who prevented him from running away from his duties again putting not just one guard by the gates but _three_ of them, 24/7, when an evening, after dinner, he attempted to escape to the castle but was caught by a hair, stopped and brought back to his duties again all night long, without sleep, as punishment, locked inside the waterfall room with Shinou who kept him ‘company’ by laughing his ass off in front of him _all the time_ he stayed there alone – which meant _nine hours_ _non-stop_ –, preventing him from falling asleep with his loud laughter and causing him a headache which accompanied him for _three whole days_ later.

And that time more than ever, Ken cursed the fact that Shinou was something like a god and he didn’t need to rest…

On the other hand, by the castle, there was Wolfram, who, strangely enough, was all smiles and laughter near Yuuri and everybody else.

No more ‘Yuuri, you cheater’ nor big jealousy quarrels, and they seemed a real couple _now more_ than before, although everybody knew they were now sleeping alone by their own quarters and that the engagement was broken.

By the way, on a closer look, the blond demon appeared a bit more tired than usual, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he couldn’t sleep during the night.

This was odd knowing him, but none dared to ask, because, even though everyone was startled not to see flames nor to hear yells and complaints from the blond commander, when they ascertained their lives, their homes and their belongings were safe, they accepted the idea that Wolfram took it better than what they previously thought and, furthermore, they _thanked_ Shinou and all the Gods that the engagement between him and Yuuri Heika was called off, because everybody’s life now was much easier than before.

-&-

“Well, Yuuri”, Wolfram started at breakfast a couple of days before the ‘great day’, perfectly composed, “Now that every paper was endorsed and everything about our dear Greta has been clarified, I believe it’s time for you to publicly disclose that our engagement has been called off and you are available again. Don’t you think so too?”, he asked in a half smile and everybody there opened their eyes and mouth wide, surprised to hear such words in such a flat and calm tone coming out from their Little Lord Brat’s lips. “Also”, he continued, “the gossip is a frightening thing, so I’m _absolutely_ sure that _everybody_ already knows about it!”

“Papa Wolf…”, Greta was the first one who was able to talk again, but the second later she started to weep, silently but out of control.

Wolfram sighed and set back his chair so that the girl – now young lady – could sit on his lap, and she ran to him and hugged him tightly while he gently caressed her hair to calm her down.

Lady Cheri’s heart broke at that sight, but she said nothing and she just closed her eyes heaving a sigh.

“My dear”, Wolfram stated, patiently, “what did we tell you the other day?”, he asked her without caring that everybody was listening, but the only answer that he received from her was a sob, so he continued, “We told you that, even though Yuuri and I won’t get married, you will _always_ be my sweet baby, and you will stay so even when you’ll be an old lady, with children, grandchildren and, maybe, grand-grandchildren. So, you have nothing to cry for. Everybody of us will be happy: _I promise_. And you know I _always_ keep my word.”, he said, smiling as only a father could smile, and both Lady Cheri and Gunter had to dry a couple of tears from their eyes and their cheeks.

Then Yuuri stood up, approached them and then hugged them both tightly, leaving a soft kiss on their hair.

“I couldn’t say it better, Wolf.”, he stated smiling too, “As always, you’re so much better than me with words and with our Greta. Aren’t we lucky, Greta”, the king now asked his daughter, “to have someone like him caring for us?”, and then he kissed her again on her hair and stroked Wolfram’s arm, fiercely and gently at the same time.

“ _OH HEIKA!!!_ ”, Gunter shouted passionately and run to hug the three of them weeping hard and non-stop. “ _What a compassionate king we have!! OH!! We are so lucky we have someone like you as our Maoh!! OH HEIKA!!! I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!! YOU’RE SO GREAT!!! YOU’RE THE BEST MAOH SHIN MAKOKU EVER HAD!!_ ”, then he remembered about Lady Cheri, so he turned her way and in a more mildly tone he added, “No offense…”

Lady Cheri smiled sadly at him – or maybe at all of them.

Then Gunter was starting again with his praiseful speech that something else seemed to pass through his mind because he abruptly stopped with his mouth half-open.

“Well… maybe after Shinou…”, the frivolous demon stated, now a little bit uncertain, still hugging them tight, and both Wolfram and Yuuri chuckled while Gwendal shook his head and sighed loudly and Anissina started to laugh hard.

“ _Gunter! You’re a lost cause!_ ”, the mad woman teased him and the white man, finally freeing the three poor guys from his grip, slightly panicked and started to ask ‘why?’ and ‘what do you mean?’ and ‘what have I done?’ and stuff like that in a loop, completely defusing the heavy atmosphere from before.

‘ _Maybe, sometimes, having someone like him around is not just a pain in the ass…_ ’, Wolfram thought, and he was sure, with a glance around the room, that he wasn’t the only one who was thinking so.

-&-

“ _My Daikenja!_ ”, Shinou shouted into his ear, showing the smirking himself on ‘his’ sage’s shoulder while he was sat on top of one of the forbidden boxes inside the waterfall room, freaking him out and grinning at his reaction. “What is occurring to you? You did not sense my presence! It is rather rare…” he stated in his old-fashioned way of speaking.

“I was lost in thought, and you can’t come here and startle people for the solely reason you are bored. So, please, _stop it_.”, Ken ordered him, deeply annoyed and rolling his eyes.

“May I pry into your thoughts, prithee?”, the First King asked him with a knowing look into his eyes, as if he already knew the answer to his own question.

“No, you can’t.”, Ken cut short, but at his answer the grin on Shinou’s lips widened.

“Your attitude towards me is rather rude, don’t you believe? I am merely concerned about you and my beloved descendant…”, he insinuated.

“What do you know!?”, Ken prickled.

“Peculiar you feel the necessity to frame this question after what occurred almost two weeks ago… How could you deem I was not aware of it?”, the blond First King asked his sage, still wearing his unnerving smirk on his face.

“By the way, I wasn’t thinking about him.”, the sage stated at that, dryly.

“ _You liar_ ”, Shinou whispered into his ear and he gently caressed his cheek with his small hand.

“Why should I lie about it?”, Ken prickled again.

“Did you even realize where you are seated?!”, Shinou asked him cornering him, now a little bit more serious, as if this game was starting to annoy him.

Ken jerked enough to answer Shinou’s last question without needing for words, but quickly recovered.

“Then what? It’s just a box.”, he stated dryly, but the First King snorted, strangely _sadly_.

“You never sat on it before the ‘incident’, and now you sit on it _whenever_ I look at you.”, Shinou told him, now dead serious, looking into his eyes and not faltering.

“It certainly isn’t your business to pry into my affairs, Shinou.”, Ken cut short, but it never worked with him. If Shinou put something on his mind, you had no chance of running from him.

The First King used his Maryoku and silently asked Ulrike – whom he knew exactly _where_ she was – for hers to become of normal size, so that he could watch him into his eyes while he talked.

“ _Ken_ ”, he started and the double black was now _totally_ speechless: Shinou _never_ called him by this life name before… by _any_ of his lives names, to be more precise! “This particular issue _does_ concern me, considering I am _guilty_ of your disenchantment about love.”, Shinou affirmed and Ken snorted.

“Don’t you think you are a little bit too self-conscious? The world doesn’t revolve around you!”, the sage informed him raising an eyebrow and looking at him in a cynical way.

“ _Yours does_.”, Shinou stated weighty, his eyes still locked with the black ones of the most important person in his life, while Ken’s back tensed, “It always did, and I know it. I am aware of it from the first time I set my eyes on you, seated under the tree your great-grandfather planted out of the walls of Astartia.”

And Ken, despite himself, froze, losing a heartbeat and his breath for a couple of seconds, his hands visibly shaking.

“Why are you keeping this up?”, he asked him in a feeble whisper after a long and tense silence, still shocked.

“I am sorry.”, Shinou apologized and, when Ken started to ask ‘What?’, he stopped himself midway, startled by the feeling of _tears_ on his own cheeks, a feeling – at least concerning ‘love-matters’ – lost still during his first life and never found again. But Ken did nothing and left them flow silently for a few minutes before recovering enough to speak again.

“What’s the meaning of your speech?”, he asked him, slightly confused. “You never say ‘sorry’. You _never_ said it _before_ – neither to Yuuri, although he deserved it after all the mess you put him through – and, in a way, he is _you_.”, he stated. “So, why now? And why _to_ _me_?”

After a long silence, Shinou decided to break it and to tell him the truth, because, after more than four thousand years, maybe, he deserved it, at least part of it. At least _this_ part.

“You loved me”, he started and Ken glared at him with a murdering intent but stayed still, waiting to see what he was getting at with that talk. “And, in a way, you loved Rufus too. But after your first life, you didn’t love again. _Never_. By the way, I loved you too, and I still love you.”, he affirmed, but Ken said nothing back: he just kept on listening to what he had to say.

“I always watched you”, Shinou continued, “and I knew when the seal was broken. And, although I should have known, I cursed the Fates because the timing did not aid you to recover. On the contrary, it was detrimental for you.”

“ _You_ were detrimental for me.”, Ken stated, abruptly standing up, and the old and already overtaken resentment came back again in an outburst.

“My love… my brother…”, Shinou uttered in a calm and sad voice. “You were _devastated_ ”, he explained, ignoring Ken’s last statement, “and I did not want you to feel dead again, this time _for_ _all eternity_ , the moment you would have lost your _only_ other true love of your lives until the end of time. You recovered well with your cynicism about life and love, and you needed _more than three thousand years_ to accomplish that. I absolutely did not want to risk your sanity again…”

“What do you mean?”, Ken inquired, angrier every second.

“My descendant was originally yours.”, Shinou declared and Ken lost his breath: _here there was his answer_.

“Do you mean…”, Ken started in a feeble voice but couldn’t go on because his words died in his throat together with all the implications hidden behind them.

“Yes”, Shinou confirmed, “This is the reason why you are not able to keep him out of your mind, and the reason why you were not able to do it before nevertheless. But when the jealousy and the envy started to surface when you saw that the Maoh was not interested in something you _craved_ , it was already too late to change things back.”

“Why did it take you _six years_ to tell me?!”, the sage asked him, resentful.

“Because in six years you reached a balance, an equilibrium which would have been stayed still if everything remained unaltered.”

“ _You made the three of us suffer for nothing!_ ”, Ken accused him. “Didn’t you learn _in more than four thousand years_ that it’s _futile_ to play with the Fates?! And why the heck did you have to start _now_ , with something _so_ important!?”, he shook his head, helplessly disarmed.

“Did not I already apologized, _Ken_? I told you I did it _for you_ , for your sake, or, at least, for something I believed that was _that_. I did not want you to suffer again for my own blood.”, Shinou stated, earnest – something so distant from what he usually was – and sad and angry and _hurt_ , all at the same time.

The double black heaved a sigh after a few minutes of silence spent glaring at Shinou in the eyes, like studying him and his sincerity.

“...forgiven", he finally asserted, "But don’t you ever, _ever_  try to play with my destiny _again_ , is it clear enough?”, he threatened him and he received a sad smile and a nod as an answer.

“Good.”, Ken exclaimed. “And don’t you dare to meddle with me again. I plan to take what’s _mine_ , and no-one can interfere, _neither you_ , because I’ll _obliterate_ whoever will cross my path from now on.”, he affirmed, and Shinou smiled at him, now prideful of his beloved one.

“If before I was doubtful”, his sage continued, “with your words you dissipated every shadow inside of me. I’m still angry”, he stated, honestly, “but I’m also grateful.”, he added in a softer tone, and he cupped one of the First King’s cheeks.

“Shinou, I hated you. I hated you for _so_ long, but the reason of my great hatred was my _undeniable_ love for you. I was so naïf and pure when I met you and I fell in love with you, but I _did_ say ‘I love you’ to you, and I did say it to you _and_ _Rufus_ that night. Because it was what I felt. What I _really_ felt.”, he explained. “And _this_ _thought_ saved my soul some centuries ago, making it pure again: no more regrets, no more remorse, no more hatred, but _acceptance_ , of my duties and of my feelings.”, he concluded and went back to sit down again on top of the Hellfire on Frozen Land.

Shinou approached him and, gently cupping both his cheeks into his hands, he put a chaste kiss on Ken’s lips, heaving a sigh.

“I deeply love you and I forever will.”, the blond king stated, serious, and Ken solemnly answered “The same.”

Then Shinou, keeping his shape with Ulrike’s help, sat down next to him and lied his head on his sage’s shoulder while the young double black did the same and took the blond’s hand in his and squeezed it tenderly. So, in this position, Ken allowed himself to doze off and, after a few minutes, exhausted from the long day and the revelations, he fell sound asleep.

The First King smiled and, using his and Ulrike’s Maryoku, he lifted Ken up and, making him levitate, he brought him through the hallways – choosing the path which passed in front of his First Priestess just to be able to thank her with a short bow while passing by – to his sage’s quarters, and he gently put him to bed.

“At last you went back to the one I fell in love with the first time I rested my gaze on you… you know”, he whispered to himself now that his Daikenja couldn’t hear him, “it was love at first sight for both of us, my brother… my love. Please, now stay like this _forever_. I hate to be hated by you. There has _never_ been _nothing_ I hated more than this!”, he whispered and then he laid a light kiss on his forehead before vanishing.

-&-

“I will go for a horse ride. See you at the temple at half past ten as scheduled.” were Wolfram’s only words to Gwendal at half past six in the morning of the eagerly-awaited festivity, and the blond commander disappeared before his brother – and General of the Maoh’s Army and Fleet – could find the time to complain and stop him.

The truth was that he lied awake all night, nervous, despite himself, about people’s gossip.

It was exactly twenty days until the end of his engagement with the Maoh, so, by now, there would have been no-one who didn’t know about it.

He could hear in his ears people’s derisive tone and words…

‘ _Ah! So the Maoh turned tired of Little Lord Brat, at last!_ ’ or ‘ _Neither the Maoh could stand that unnerving attitude of his! And actually he IS an incredibly patient man!_ ’ or again ‘ _He may be beautiful, but Little Lord Brat gained himself this name for a reason: he is a pain in the ass, and, finally, the Maoh realized it too!_ ’ and so on and on and on again.

He usually didn’t pay attention to what people said, but he had ears, and Shin Makoku Foundation Anniversary had always been the main event of the year together with the Maoh’s birthday, so the entire reign was there to assist at the big announcement and to mock him in his face or behind his shoulders but within earshot.

And this was _frustrating_.

He grew up within people’s envy and hostility because of his appearance and/or his political position, and now he was _fed up_!

But he was helplessly powerless about it, and _for_ _that_ _reason_ it was unnervingly frustrating.

 _And_ for that reason he barely slept last night – and a few nights before it…

“Wolfram!”, Conrad called him far more than once before receiving a reaction in response. “Wolfram! Where are you going? It’s odd to see you around at this hour…”, his little big brother asked him reaching him into the stables where there were already three stable boys who were preparing the mounts for everybody’s trip to the temple, scheduled in less than three and a half hours.

“I’m taking a ride beforehand. We’ll see there at the scheduled time.”, the blond cut short.

“Are you ok?”, Conrad asked him concerned and Wolfram raised an eyebrow posing in the usual prideful attitude of his.

“You look terrible…”, Conrad added, still glaring at him, and the blond snorted.

“Oh! It’s _really_ helpful. Thank you, brother. It’s _exactly_ what I needed to hear now. And now, if you may excuse me…”, Wolfram stated, sarcastic, but Conrad interrupted him.

“What I wanted to say is that you don’t need to leave, because it won’t help you not to think. But I can listen to you if you’d like… we can have a walk together…”, he told him lowering his voice so that only Wolfram could hear him.

The blond commander was startled for a bit, but in a blink of an eye he regained his perfect composure.

“You have no need to worry. I’m ok. _Really_.”, he insisted when Conrad glared at him skeptically. “I passed the last two weeks into the castle, barely finding the time for my troops because of _our_ _dear mother_ , who thought it’d be wiser for me to help Gunter and her with the decorations instead of staying by myself or, sometimes, even doing _my job_ … It’s days I want to take a ride but she won’t let me go… My poor Nemesis surely felt alone these days!”, Wolfram explained to him and, just to be more convincing, he smiled at him.

“Yeah… sure…”, Conrad stated, still a little bit uncertain, so Wolfram heaved a sigh and, grabbing him at his collar, he drew down his brother and lied a _very_ quick and light kiss on his cheek.

“Is this enough convincing?”, Wolfram asked, turning slightly pink, because he wasn’t used at all to display his affection.

“Not at all. Maybe the contrary…”, was his brother’s honest and abrupt answer and it gained him a not-so-light punch on his shoulder.

Then Wolfram, sighing, stated, “I appreciate your concern for me, but now, please, leave me go before someone could stop me for the nth time! I _seriously_ need the peace only my horse and the breeze together could grant me!”

“Ok… Just don’t be late for the ceremony by the temple, or else Gwendal would complain for weeks!”

“Thank you! And see you later, then. And now go wake up Yuuri! It’s getting late!”, and he threw his brother out of the stables before going back to Nemesis.

“Hey, boy!”, Wolfram called one of the three grooms once he finally was again by himself. “I saw you were preparing my horse when I came inside before…”

“Yeah! Only the saddle’s left to put on!”, he confirmed.

“ _Oh! Finally a good news!_ ”, he exclaimed and smiled at him, satisfied and relieved – and the boy gawked at him enchanted by his beauty, because, together with the envious ones, there were also Lord von Bielefeld’s fans, and there were many of them, especially between the castle people.

“Good job, boy!”, he said and he quickly but accurately put the saddle on Nemesis and left at full gallop.

-&-

“It appears that my beloved descendant is reaching the temple _right_ _now_ , my Daikenja. How would you like to act about it?”, Shinou said in a low whisper into his ear, suddenly showing himself on Ken’s shoulder while his sage, Ulrike and four other maidens were fine-tuning the last details inside the waterfall room.

Ken suddenly froze but quickly recovered, although his heartbeat was out of control for almost a minute before he was able to force it to slow down again. Then he checked his watch.

“But it’s just _a_ _quarter_ _to_ _eight_! What’s he coming for so early?”, the double black asked in a whisper too.

“Maybe he is coming to lend you a hand…”, the First King insinuated, “Or maybe not…”, he grinned knowingly and Ken raised an eyebrow.

“So, my dear: may _I_ lend you a hand to escape?”, Shinou proposed, still smirking.

“Why should I escape? If he’s coming here I can just wait for him to ask for me and I’ll be dispensed from my work for a bit.”

“You are undoubtedly right, but you should be _the first one_ to know that _these_ walls have ears…”, he insinuated now openly smiling at him and then ‘accidentally’ setting his eyes on his First Priestess.

Ken jerked, startled, and turned to Ulrike, angrily glaring at her, gesture that she noticed and that made her to glance down, turning pink.

“That’s not what I think it is, _isn’t it_?”, he hissed at Shinou and he just shrugged.

“And maybe _the other night_ _too_!!”, Ken now shouted, not caring anymore about the audience, and Shinou shrugged again with an amused grin.

Ken breathed in and out for a couple of minutes before being able to speak again in a quite calm voice.

“ _Ulrike_ ”, he hissed to the little woman who kept her distance from him when she sensed the danger raising from the sage’s aura. “May I share a word with you, _prithee_!”, and it wasn’t a question but an order.

Ulrike lowered her eyes and followed him through the hallways to the first empty room.

Ken loudly shut the door but just glanced at her for a few minutes, intimidating the usually quite submissive – but actually really strong willed – woman.

“So you eavesdropped on my conversation with Shinou the other night.”, he stated, almost threatening, and she had to nod, assertive and unable to lie to him.

“I hate when people try to pry into my affairs: _you had no right_.”

“I know I should have not,”, she answered promptly, “but, when I found the holes almost _four_ _centuries_ ago, Shinou told me _you_ were the one who did them in the first place, more than _three thousand_ years ago. So you were the same as I, eavesdropping on other’s conversations.”, she said and, after a full minute of silence, Ken started to laugh hard.

“ _Touché_ ”, at last he admitted defeat and, when he calmed down, he continued. “Lord von Bielefeld is coming here. _Now._ I’ll leave for a bit. Cover me.”, he said, and it wasn’t a question.

“Only if you will give me the details later. I love love-stories.”, she explained and Ken chuckled.

“Please, escort me to the stables and then to the gates.” was all that the sage answered and, with a grin on Ulrike and Shinou’s lips and a sigh from the sage, they went outside in the courtyard and then to the guards by the gates.

-&-

Meanwhile, on the main route that passed through the wood and linked the castle to the temple, Wolfram, abruptly, reined in his Nemesis and stopped, bringing his hand on his chest suddenly short of breath, his heart galloping faster than his horse until a moment before.

‘ _What the…_ ’, he thought, panicking. ‘ _Why the heck am I going to see_ him above all _?_

 _Fuck! I could have gone_ everywhere _, but I’m_ here _!_

 _Why am I_ missing _him so much?! And_ now! _I would have seen him in a few hours!_

 _And why the heck am I feeling like this all of a sudden?! It’s been nineteen days and I feel worse than after my wet dreams! And shit! Am I counting the days?!_ ’, he grabbed his jacket and shirt and closed his grip, a slicing pain spreading through his chest while thinking about him.

“ARGH!! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU PERVERT!!”, he shouted out loud to the wind.

“Actually, I keenly hope that you are not referring to me, my lord…”, a well-known and clearly amused voice asked through the leafy branches behind a corner, shortly ahead from where Wolfram was, and the demon froze, shocked, keeping his breath for a few seconds without noticing, in a total panic in spite of himself.

Then the double black approached him slowly and smiled at him.

“ _What the hell are you doing here?!_ ”, Wolfram shouted.

“I should ask the same question _to you_ , my lord…”, and Wolfram passed from a pale face to a deeply red one and he bit his bottom lip in a sort of tic as he did every time he felt embarrassed or troubled.

“I was taking a ride and I was passing by, nothing more. Now your turn to answer my question.”, he stated after a few instants when he finally regained his composure and his arrogant attitude and Ken smiled at him and then smirked.

“I was on the run.”, he lied.

“ _On the run?!_ ”, Wolfram repeated more than a little bit surprised by the sage’s statement, considered which day it was.

“Why not?”, and Wolfram had nothing to reply to this.

“May I assume by your silence that we are in the same boat?”, Ken asked him and Wolfram lightly chuckled.

“I believe you may… Are they following you?”

“I don’t think so… there are too many last-minute preparations for losing time running behind me…”, Ken explained and grinned at the blond. “So? Where should we go?”

“We?”, Wolfram cocked his head to the side.

“Won’t you accompany me?”, Ken posed a hurt tone and Wolfram, unconsciously, bit his lip again.

“Why should I?”

“Why should you not?”, the sage replied smirking. “You are out for a ride, not a task. You are cruising. So, we definitely should go somewhere together, because it was a sign of the Fates if we bumped into each other here. Don’t you believe so too?”, and Wolfram turned slightly pink and just nodded and hided his shivering hands while shortening the reins to approach the sage’s side.

“You may choose a direction”, Wolfram invited him, “and I will follow.”

“What about a _race_?”, Ken smiled brightly at the blond and the demon’s eyes inflamed at the last word.

“Challenge accepted, _but_ every race has stakes. What do you put at stake, Your Eminence?”

Ken grinned evilly to his prey and retorted: “If I win, I want a _kiss_. A _real_ one, not a peck! Just to be clear.”, he declared serious and Wolfram hesitated, obviously not waiting for something like that, but, although his heart skipped a beat, he regained his composure in record time.

“Then, if _I_ win – and I surely will – you will bow on your knees and kiss my boots. _And_ ”, he quickly added, “you will pray for my forgiveness for your harassing and _I_ will decide when it will be enough.”, and Wolfram smirked at him equally evil.

“ _You’re on!_ ”, he stated and extended his horse before shouting at him their finish line “To the wood limits on the way to Vanela!”

“HEY!! YOU’RE CHEATING!!”, Wolfram protested but quickly extended Nemesis at full gallop too, smiling with excitement and following in hot pursuit.

And after almost twenty minutes of close marking and _seven_ overtaking, Ken won by a neck passing Wolfram a few meters before the finish line they – or better, _he_ – previously decided.

“YOU CHEATED!!”, Wolfram whined out of breath, reining in his horse, and Ken burst out laughing loudly now that the tension was off.

“ _And you’re a bad loser!_ ”

“Never told you otherwise!”, Wolfram stated in his arrogant and prideful attitude, but soon he left his pose and burst into a hearty laugh too, enjoying it despite himself and despite his loss.

And, after more than ten minutes, Ken recomposed himself, dismounted and approached Wolfram’s horse, holding out his hand to the blond, who didn’t keep it but dismounted in a fluid movement and got pretty near him, lightly panting for more than just the laughter.

“I claim my prize.”, the sage declared, looking into his eyes and actually not just wanting but literally _craving_ for it.

“I hate you”, he stated flatly and sighing. “You’re such a flirt, Geik—”

“OH, FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE, NO!”, he stopped him with his index finger on his lips in a shout. “You’re going to _kiss_ me! It’s _Ken_. _PLEASE_!”, he insisted, his pupils dilated as they were almost twenty days before then, and Wolfram turned red and bit his lower lip, deeply embarrassed for a second.

“Does everyone of your playmates call you by name in bed?”, he asked him trying to seem detached, but failing the exact moment Ken raised both his hands and brushed his hair behind his ears with the tip of his fingers, very lightly. And when goose bumps spread all over his body and Wolfram’s green eyes became for the most part pitch black, Ken decided to answer his question.

“Here in Shin Makoku none ever dared. And I would have _never_ allowed them to.”, he said in a whisper almost brushing against his neck, his hot breath on his delicate skin, now aroused in a beautiful shade of pink where they were so close that they barely touched, but after a few moments Wolfram’s eyes hardened and got inflamed again, although this time with _rage_.

“ _You’re a fuckin’ asshole of a flirt!_ What _the_ _hell_ is the meaning of this last statement of yours?! What the heck is your game?!”, he hissed. “I don’t need to be deceived _again_! I’ve had enough _for life_ in the last _six_ _years_!”, he stated dryly. “Are you trying to make me fall in love with you and then _scoff_ at me _behind my back_?! _Is it funny?!_ Or maybe you made a bet with Yozak to see _how far_ you would have gone with the arrogant _but still virgin_ Little Lord Brat?!”, he snorted. “But I _won’t_ be enchanted by your deceiving words! By the way”, he stated after a very short pause, “I’m a man of my word!”.

So Wolfram, this said, grabbed Ken’s collar and kissed him roughly for a few seconds, biting his lips a couple of times and licking them after in a not-so-clumsy kiss. “And _now_ , if you might _excuse me_!”, and he quickly mounted his Nemesis again and left, leaving before the sage could utter a single word.

And a few moments later, with Wolfram already out of his reach, Ken was in hysterics.

“ _IT WAS ALL IN HIS HEAD!! It REALLY is true that ALL blonds are STUPID, after all!!_ ”, he cried out loud after some minutes he needed to recover from the shock, totally _exasperated_ , punching and kicking the nearest log a couple of times, still incredulous about the turn the situation took.

“Why, after _him_ , must I fall for a _crazy_ _paranoid_?!”, he finally muttered to himself heaving a sigh and closing his eyes in total resignation, his fingers rubbing his temples.

Then, when he finally calmed down enough, he cured himself the cuts on his hand caused by the bark of the tree and went back to the temple in a free walk on a long rein, which took him a bit more than an hour and, since it was already ten, he took a quick shower and got changed for the ceremony, showing himself by the gates just in time for the Maoh’s and the other noble guests’ arrival.

Then Ulrike, while going back inside, approached the sage and, discreetly, put a small hand on his, delicately squeezing it. “Let time handle it. He only _seems_ easy to understand, but, at the end, you will conquer his heart. I am sure of it.”, she whispered to him raising an encouraging smile and Ken, sighing, cracked a smile in response: _he had a plan_.


	3. The first day of celebrations

“It’s odd Wolfram’s still not here…”, Yuuri stated at twenty-five to eleven, talking to Conrad. “He usually is _early_ rather than _on time_ …”

“The rendezvous was at half past ten, but the ceremony will start at eleven. He still has time.”, the Captain pointed out and looked at Gwendal, who was within earshot and was discreetly listening to their conversation, but he couldn’t not think that the king was right: it was pretty unusual for Wolfram to be late.

For the entire half hour of waiting – passed through greetings and political socializing – more than one checked the door, waiting for Lord von Bielefeld’s arrival, and Yozak nor Gwendal and _neither Yuuri_ missed the sage’s fleeting glances at the entrance from time to time.

And _this_ was unusual for him as much as Wolfram’s being late!

“Please, forgive me for my delay!”, the blond ex-prince stated entering the waterfall room at _one_ to eleven – as Gwendal checked and murderously glared at him.

Then Wolfram, avoiding to look at the sage and to sit near his angered big brother, quickly took the free pew between Greta and his mother, nodding his greetings to his uncle Waltrana while walking by him to reach the seat he was aiming for before someone could steal it.

“Papa Wolf! You arrived!”, the girl – now turning fifteen – whispered to him with a bright smile and he smiled back at her.

“I’m sorry if I was late. I lost track of time and when I noticed I was a little bit distant from here.”, he told her loudly enough to be heard by his brothers, his mother next to him and Yuuri too.

And it wasn’t entirely a lie, although he omitted the detail that, for an instant, he actually thought to not show up at all and to wait for them back at the castle.

The only reason that dissuaded him from doing so was the prospect of a long and harsh tirade from his big brother later.

The celebration lasted more than an hour and, during that time, Yozak, Gwendal and Yuuri didn’t miss to notice the elusive glances Wolfram threw at the sage and the honed discretion the double black showed in _not_ looking in the blond’s direction for _all the time_.

Then, when everything was over and the shrine priestesses collected all the offers, Ken vanished for a quarter to get changed to leave with the Maoh’s entourage to the castle and to find and put in his pocket a specific object he would have needed later.

-&-

“Murata? What’s up?”, the Maoh asked him in a whisper while on the way back, and received a raised eyebrow as an answer.

“Listen”, Yuuri continued at Ken’s silence. “Maybe, to you, I seem a dupe unable to read the atmosphere, but I’m not or, at least, _not_ _anymore_ ”, he conceded and then insisted. “ _So_ : what happened between you and Wolf?”, he asked his friend in a forceful tone that brooked no argument, but it wasn’t his business, and Ken wasn’t intimidated by him.

“Nothing in particular. Why?”, he persisted in eluding the Maoh’s direct question.

“ _Murata!_ ”, he scolded him. “Did you even _listen_ to what I just said?”

“Yes, and you should mind your own business.”, Ken cut short, totally serious for just a second before starting to smile again in his typical cryptic way.

“ _It is_ my business!”, he remarked.

“Not anymore, Shibuya.”, Ken stated back, his voice now flat.

“ _Nonsense_.”, Yuuri hissed. “He is my best friend. And you are too. And, if for you it’s not enough, I’m _the_ _king_ , and I have _the right and the duty_ to know what happens to my people.”, and Ken burst into laughter for almost a minute before abruptly stopping.

“You’re starting to talk _exactly_ like him, _at last_ …”, Ken noted, stressing the last two words.

“Him _who_?”, Yuuri asked, puzzled. “Wolf?”

“No no! Never him! By the way”, he rapidly brushed aside the issue smiling at him and quickly changing topic, “if you _really_ insist on knowing what’s up, I can say it just occurred a ‘little misunderstanding’ between us. Nothing big”, he minimized waving a hand when he saw the concern and worry in Yuuri’s eyes, “and nothing I can’t deal with before the end of these festivities. I promise, if my word is enough for you…”, he then insinuated, and the king, after glaring closely at him, briefly nodded and left his side to join Conrad just up ahead.

-&-

“I know you saw what _I_ saw.”, Gwendal, some meters behind the king and the sage while they were still talking, stated to Yozak – who was riding next to him – keeping discreetly his voice low so that only the spy could hear him.

“Yeah… and judgin’ from his look, I bet the kiddo noticed _too_. He’s improving quite a lot, don’t you think, Boss?”

“Does it happen, maybe, that you have any idea about _what_ is going on?”, the General asked him, ignoring all that came after the ‘yeah’ part, but Yozak shrugged.

“My gut’s telling me the sage’s got his eyes on your lil’ brother… Maybe he made the wrong move, and now Little Lord Brat is _sulking_.”, he suggested.

By the way, it had to be said that Yozak was the one who made the ‘little funny story’ about _that_ night ‘at the inn’ _true_ , and, for the little favor, he asked the sage to tell him what _actually_ occurred, so he happened to know – or to have assumed – some details that, to the other man, were unknown.

…at least about _that night_ , because Yozak still hadn’t had the chance to see any of Wolfram’s behaviors next to the double black.

Unlucky for him, because, sadly, during _that_ particular morning he wasn’t by the castle, and, now that he could finally see them together, Wolfram seemed just angry at the sage about _something_.

But now that he thought about it, the double black avoided to look at Wolfram for all the time and this was, at the very least, _peculiar_ given that he checked the door _more than once_ before the blond’s arrival and, furthermore, Wolfram threw some glances in the sage’s direction when he thought no-one was looking at him…

‘ _But if this is true – in other words that the sage made a wrong move and Wolfram got angry – shouldn’t the roles be_ reversed _?_ ’, Yozak asked himself and decided to check for an answer later.

“Nothing surprising knowing the sage, actually…”, Gwendal took Yozak’s mind off his train of thought, “He _is_ a flirt, and Wolfram is, _de facto_ , considerably beautiful.”

“And _single_ ”, Yozak pointed out with a smirk and a knowing look.

“Yes”, Gwendal snapped and closed their conversation there.

He could guess this much about the sage without needing for Yozak, and he could also guess _something_ _else_ that his best man couldn’t and – seemed – still didn’t: Wolfram _reciprocated_ , at least in a measure, and _this_ , maybe, was the real issue…

He feared that, because of his flirty nature, the sage _too_ might have already hurt his little brother’s feelings…

-&-

The lunch with all the leading figures of Shin Makoku politics and their families, and a few other guests from afar who arrived _before_ the evening ball of inauguration for the year festivities – which would have lasted for three whole days and nights – elapsed without a hitch.

It was organized as a great buffet in the gardens under the gazebos set up for the occasion and it went on until four p.m., when everyone arrived and the king leaded the first reel.

No-one was surprised to see _Greta_ with the Maoh instead of Lord von Bielefeld for the first dance, but the previous knowledge clearly wasn’t enough to silence people’s evil tongues.

“Poor Papa Wolf…”, the young lady whispered into her – now only legitimate – father’s ear. “People got their tongues wagging in a blink of an eye… He doesn’t deserve it!”

“Don’t worry, Greta. When our dance is over, I’ll take care of everything. Trust me.”, he stated strong-willed and in a serious tone before reassuringly smiling at his daughter, and she smiled back.

“I trust you, daddy.”

-&-

Then while, despite himself, Wolfram was starting to think that he was living the most humiliating time of his entire life, Yuuri, standing in front of his seat on a little stage above the ground level, tried to draw the attention of the crowd.

“My dear guests, my people and dignitaries of our beloved kingdom”, Yuuri started and everybody fell silent. “During this beautiful and happy day, please allow me to address one issue of particular concern for me before starting to celebrate: as you certainly already know, my and Lord von Bielefeld’s betrothal has been nullified.”, he stated in a solemn tone, and murmurs started to spread again through the crowd but the Maoh continued, silencing them again.

“By the way, I would like to point out that it was a decision taken _by_ _common_ _agreement_ between us. So, if anyone _believed_ the motives resided in him _not being worthy_ for whatever reason, I feel obliged to tell them they are _gravely mistaken_.”, he declared and Yuuri’s words sucked Wolfram’s breath away and, while the blond ex-prince brought a shivering hand to his face and covered his own mouth, now wide open as his own eyes, someone took his other hand and squeezed it by way of support.

“I have a feeling you’ll be _very popular_ at the end of our Maoh’s speech in praise of you and your qualities.”, a female voice avouched and then she kissed him on a cheek.

“Liz!”, Wolfram just whispered – because this was all that remained of his voice –, flinching at the sudden contact, and he found himself wishing – despite himself – that she was someone else.

“Hello, dear Wolfie. I just arrived.”, she greeted him, but he already wasn’t paying attention to her anymore, soon back to listen to Yuuri’s words.

So, Elizabeth sighed and paid attention to their Maoh’s speech too: by the way, she had to admit she was more than a little bit curious about it…

It was almost a year that she didn’t see them, missing all the big and small events because she was traveling with Alford – with whom she was engaged since one and a half year before – and she missed the ‘big change’ in their Maoh – something she just heard of –, which was something relatively new.

“Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld is a proud and brave man, with a willing heart and a total devotion to his duties.”, Yuuri continued, “And although he might be, sometimes, more than a little bit hot-blooded, you are wrong if you believe he is haughty.

And,”, he added, “I _heard_ you calling him Little Lord Brat, before, during lunch and before the first dance… _more_ _than one_ of you referred to him in that way.”, he reprimanded the crowd and many froze.

“He was, at least _sometimes_ ”, Yuuri conceded, serious, after a short pause, “ _when I knew him six years ago_ ”, he then dryly specified. “But he is _not_ it anymore. He is a proud young mazoku who _has all the right_ to be proud of himself, and _I_ surely am proud of him. _Every day_.”

“And if he was already beautiful from the start, now he _blossomed_ , and whoever will be able to conquer his proud and loyal heart could be called a lucky person, and I will give them my blessing.”, he stated and searched and found the blond’s eyes in the crowd.

Wolfram gulped a couple of times, short of breath, but stayed still – more _shocked_ than ‘proud’, as the Maoh called him more than once in his speech until then – and Elizabeth squeezed his hand and smiled at both of them.

And _she_ was proud of their Maoh, now more than ever!

“For that reason”, Yuuri carried on, “I feel I must make you aware that I will take as a _personal offense_ whichever word said in his detriment that will reach my ear.

That being clarified”, the king concluded now with a smile and a merrier tone, “please get back to celebrate this four-thousand-eleventh anniversary from the foundation of our beautiful and prosper kingdom that Shinou Heika – the founder of what we all call ‘home’ – blessed us with the help and the assistance of his right-hand man, Your Eminence the Soukoku no Daikenja – who, in this life, answers to the name of Murata Ken.

I wish this will be a merry and rejoicing time for all of us! And now, the ball – and the three days celebration – is officially up! So… music, please!”, he said brightly smiling to the orchestra, but the guests – for the most part intimidated by him and his speech – needed a couple of minutes to recover.

Luckily some Nobles of the Council, the castle people and Lady Cheri broke the ice and everything from that moment on went smoothly.

-&-

And, despite there were many people who – now after the Maoh’s words – _silently_ despised and were envious of Lord von Bielefeld’s position – if possible even more than before –, there were _at least_ the double of them who were _his_ _fans_ , and, now that he was single again, far too many of them showed their ‘preferences’.

“Come, my dear! I’ll help my best friend to recover from the shock!”, Elizabeth twinkled at him. “Let’s dance before you’ll be totally surrounded!”

“What’s Alford going to say, Liz? Shouldn’t you danc—”, Wolfram started, still embarrassed from before, but his friend cut it short and dragged him on the dance floor.

“Shut up! There’s no need for courtesy with me! You should know better, Wolfram!”, she stated, posing offended, and then, after a smile, she made him took the lead and danced with him the first two pieces when Greta came for her dance with his other father – no matter what people said – and Alford took the chance to reclaim his own fiancée.

“How are you, Papa Wolf?”, she asked in the middle of their first dance after a long silence and Wolfram sighed in response, biting his bottom lip.

“No need to worry, my baby”, he told her, but she raised an eyebrow the same way he did it every time.

“You can’t deceive me. You’re being strange. It’s all today that you’re strange! You _arrived late_! And you seem distracted… Aren’t you happy that daddy Yuuri stopped people’s tongue from wagging?”

Wolfram sadly smiled at her.

“Greta, it’s _obvious_ I’m happy for Yuuri’s words. I’m still a little bit startled, that’s all.”, he said and then started to regain his usual composure and attitude. “ _Also_ , didn’t I already told you I was too distant from the temple to reach it in time when I checked what time it was?!”

And Greta grinned.

“Yes, you told me. And finally now you’re starting to be yourself again!”

Wolfram raised an eyebrow and his daughter did the same in the same way again.

“You’re growing up a little bit too fast, my baby.”, he sighed conceding defeat and she smirked at him.

“It’s never too early when I have two fathers like you who need me.”, it was her quickly answer.

“You’re one to talk! May I remind you of the other day, when you cried on my lap in front of _everybody_?”, he smirked at her – but as only a father could do – and she started pouting.

“Sorry if I was worried about you! And I was sad!!”, she complained and Wolfram brightly smiled at her.

“I know” was all the blond replied and soon enough the music ended, but before another started Greta curtsied and grinned at him.

“Now that you’re better, I’m going to let Lindsey find me!”

“ _Lindsey_?!”, Wolfram asked, stunned. “Lindsey _von Wincott_?!”

“He’s mooning over me, it seems…”, she stated in a big smile.

“Isn’t it a little bit _too_ _soon_?! You are still _fifteen_!! And you’re _still_ not of age! You’re _still_ a baby! A _baby_ , my dear! And _he_ is only _forty-six_!”, he loudly complained.

“Humans are faster in everything, papa…”, she told him and then, kissing him on the cheek, she run away while the next dance already started.

And, the exact moment he was left alone, an horde of people surrounded him in hope to list themselves on his carnet for the day.

-&-

“I’m flattered by your attention, and, please, don’t be offended if I refuse, but…”, Wolfram started to apologize to a young, blonde, sexy and astounding mazoku lady who answered to the name of Lady Sybil von Ravel, one of Elizabeth’s third degree cousins and clearly blood-mixed during previous generations with the von Christ and the von Spitzweg, when someone behind him completed his sentence for him.

“…but he is already taken.”

“That is _not_ what I was going to say, _Geika_ …”, he snapped glaring at the double black in spite of what his heart was _shouting_ at him.

“My dear lady… would you mind to leave us alone, please?”, the sage asked her with a piercing glance and an enigmatic smile and she was going to curtsy and leave when Wolfram took her wrist and, flashing Ken a defiant eye, he guided her to the dance floor.

She struggled just a little but, powerless with her wrist in his fierce grip, she bowed deeply at the Daikenja and followed the blond commander.

“…my lord, I am seriously flattered to be here with you, but, if I am allowed to give you my humble opinion, I believe you might be dancing, _right now_ , with the Great Sage instead of me…”

“Nonsense.”, he cut it short, but she lightly giggled in response.

“What is so funny, Lady Sybil?”, he asked her, raising his perfect eyebrow and slightly tilting his head on a side while dancing without even faltering.

“It seems to me that you are playing cat and mouse with him…”, she insinuated in a knowing tone and Wolfram prickled, briefly biting his lower lip.

“You are mistaken.”, the blond ex-prince stated dryly and she chuckled again.

“I’m a _woman_ , Lord von Bielefeld, I am older than you are and – I hope you won’t take offense by my statement – I am quite sure I am also _more_ _experienced_ than you. You can’t deceive the eye of a woman on love matters… it’s a pity, anyway, because I liked you since far before our Maoh’s arrival… but I obviously can’t stand a chance…”

And Wolfram, startled by her declaration, said nothing in response and just continued to dance in silence.

“By the way”, she started again during their second dance in a row, “you seem to be succeeding…”

“What do you mean?”, Wolfram asked her with a little bit too much enthusiasm, making her chuckle again.

Then she rotated on her right foot and graciously made him take her place.

“Look at him and you’ll have your answer…”, she insinuated whispering in a provocative way into the blond’s ear and he flushed and lost a foot, although _not_ for her, as someone – and Ken too – thought.

Then, in a fluid movement that made it seem the natural motion that had to follow the previous one, Wolfram went back to his previous position, giving his shoulders to the sage’s direction.

“Would you like to ‘play’? I might be of some help…”, she offered at the end of their _third_ dance together, curtsying to him, and Wolfram, after bowing back at her, kept her near again – this time a little bit closer than before – and started the _forth_ dance in a row.

“With pleasure, if you won’t mind… he needs to learn his place.”, he declared with an evil grin curving his lips up and whispering in her ear too in a flirtatious way.

“No offense, but I believe you have to learn it in the first place and _far more_ than anybody else!”, she laughed lusciously and more than one turned at their direction, wildly starting gossiping.

“It is clear that you don’t know him as much as I do…”

“I slept with him once… maybe I know more than what you might think I do…”

And, at that revelation, Wolfram tensed and choked and the woman giggled again.

“You are a tricky one, and that’s _here_ that your beauty lies. At first sight you appear in a way, but soon you’ll discover you’re not it at all… You are the serious type”, she explained to his confused gaze, “So, although I never saw _him_ so much into someone, please, pay attention, because it is _undeniably_ _dangerous_ to fall for him, and you already fell…”

“ _I didn’t!_ ”, the beautiful man complained and abruptly stopped in the middle of the dance, attracting attention on them again.

Lady Sybil sighed and smiled at him knowingly, because she passed through it too and she recognized the signs…

-&-

Meanwhile Ken remembered where he saw the beautiful lady before…

Despite the fact that she wasn’t someone you could forget easily – with long and fluent blond straight hair, a curvy body perfectly valorized in a sort of dress that Lady Cheri would have _not only_ approved of but _also_ wore it herself, astonishingly sexy but not vulgar; with beautiful deep blue eyes that had a malicious and disenchanted look into them, and with a sharp tongue – he remembered about her _only_ _after not less than_ _ten minutes_ he studied them from afar, trying hard to recall _why_ she seemed familiar.

Then it came to mind and he almost choked: he saw her quite often at parties, but he _totally forgot_ about _that_ before that instant!

Three years before, after a minor event by the castle, he took her to his quarters after a one too many and bedded her until morning.

‘ _And people say that alcohol kills the mood… if it kills something, maybe it’s the_ memory _…_ ’

He chuckled thinking about it, but he turned serious again the moment later.

The most sexy woman in all Shin Makoku after Lady Cheri pointed _his_ _Wolfram_ , and now they were flirting under his very eyes!

At first he thought that Wolfram decided to dance with her to make him jealous, but, dance after dance, waltz after waltz, they seemed to be growing up a moment…

And he couldn’t allow it. _Not_ _now_.

Twisting his way into the crowd, Ken reached them exactly at the end of their forth dance.

“Since Lord von Bielefeld seems not intentioned to share a dance with me, may I have the next ball, Lady Sybil? In remembrance of our first time three years ago…” he concluded in a clear allusion and smiled at her, totally ignoring Wolfram now and deeply bowing at the lady.

The woman seemed startled for an instant but recollected soon enough and giggled softly.

“Would you mind, my lord?”, she asked Wolfram and, when she saw he tensed a bit, she added in a sensual voice that made now _Ken_ tense a little and raise an eyebrow despite himself and his _always perfect_ composure. “I promise I will be back…”

And Wolfram slightly smirked at Ken in a challenge gaze before brightly smiling at her.

“If you promise, then I won’t mind. But don’t take too long… I could be stolen away…”, he insinuated and then left in the prideful and arrogant attitude of his.

-&-

“Geika… it was a sly move, you know…”, she stated grinning in a provocative way while they danced their first dance together.

“What do you mean? I really wanted to dance with you!”, Ken acted a little offended but soon smiled at her in his usual cryptic way.

“If I am allowed to give you my humble opinion”, she stated in a slender tone, “it seems to me that it was all a _tactic_ of yours to gain the occasion of _studying your enemy_ … After all, you _do_ are a tactician. Am I right?”

“And you are as clever as ever, my lady. But now your question plants into my mind the seed of doubt that you two might be in league against me… So, did you abruptly stop to be clever in a brief moment of distraction, or is it _your_ tactic?”

“You should be the first one to know that nobles get easily annoyed… and it is a fancy view to see you _struggling_ for someone…”

“So you are telling me this was _my_ defeat?”, he asked her in a smirk.

“At least that made you remember of me…”, she masterfully avoided his question but, at the end, she wasn’t able to hide a veil of sadness in her voice, that made him feel a little bit guilty for the past.

Then Ken abruptly stopped and kissed her on her _cheek_.

“As an apology for my inexcusable forgetfulness.”, he told her and she turned slightly pink.

“So this is serious…”, she sighed and it wasn’t a question but a statement, and Ken nodded once.

“So”, he asked when their second dance ended, bowing deeply at her. “May you leave him to me, please?”

She curtsied and smiled at him.

“Granted, but, If I were you, I would make him wait…”

“It was my plan, anyway… I don’t want my move to seem too obvious or to be rejected again. So you can have him for today.”, he grinned at her and she answered with a similar expression drawn on her face.

Despite her bad luck, at least this would have been entertaining…

-&-

“Good evening, my nephew.”, Lord Waltrana approached Wolfram around eight, when he saw him _finally_ by the buffet, although still in the company of Lady Sybil, with whom he saw him dance all afternoon.

“Uncle!”, the younger blond smiled at him and then slightly bowed at the lady silently asking her if she could leave them alone, so she curtsied to them both and quickly left.

Then, the two of them went for a little stroll, distant from the crowd, Waltrana leading and Wolfram following half a step behind.

“I gladly see you seem to have finally recovered from before when you arrived at the temple.”, Waltrana pointed out in the dignified and maybe more than a little bit cold attitude of his when he decided they were sufficiently distant from indiscreet ears. “I must admit I never saw you arrive late at any event… at _anything_ , to be more precise, so I was _literally_ dumbfounded when I did not see you there at the scheduled time. But I am relieved to see you are feeling better now.”, he stated, his face, as much as his voice, unfathomable.

“Apologies, uncle. I was finally out for a ride and I forgot to check the time and, when I realized, I was too distant to make it on time…”, he repeated what he already told the others, but the older man, skeptical, raised an eyebrow, and the movement was identical to Wolfram’s one because, as Greta copied it from him, he copied it from his uncle when he was younger during the thirty-five years he lived with him at the Bielefeld’s Land because, at the time, he found it fascinating and quite _incisive_.

“I was at earshot when the Great Sage asked you to dance with hi—”, Waltrana started but Wolfram stopped him halfway.

“If you really were at earshot, you should have heard he _didn’t_ _ask_ me. I would like to point out that his _exact_ _words_ were ‘he is already taken’, uncle.”, he spouted.

“That does not change the issue.”, Waltrana pointed out in a flat tone. “He wanted to dance with you and you _refused_ him. And I saw _how_ he glanced at you while you were dancing with Lady von Ravel, at least _before_ he danced with her too…”

“What is the meaning of this little talk between us, uncle?”

“You should learn your place, Wolfram. And he is a – let’s say – _cunning_ person: you shouldn’t play with fire, if you know what I mean.”, and at that statement Wolfram recalled the sage’s words from twenty days before…

“As a Fire Wielder”, Waltrana continued, calling him back from his roaming – and unwanted – thoughts, “I know it could be a little bit difficult to follow this advice, but you are _undoubtedly_ _attracting his attention_ on _you_ , and this could be dangerous. So, please, nephew: watch your step, because I made you my heir and I don’t want you to ruin the status for which I and, previously, all our ancestors, worked hard to reach and _to_ _maintain_ until now.”

Wolfram gritted his teeth, fisted both his hands and bit his lip to stay calm and not to answer-back, and he needed almost a minute before being able to speak again.

“Uncle”, he finally stated after a silence that seemed to have lasted forever in a dead-serious tone and attitude. “I will take your advice in mind, but I will _never_ change my nature or _my principles_ for merely pleasing someone, neither you, nor him nor _anybody_ else.”, and, that said, Wolfram deeply bowed at him and left.

-&-

From nine p.m. to midnight the celebration – and the orchestra – were moved inside.

It was half past eleven, and Yozak, a bit tired and pretty bummed, was leaning against the doorjamb of the glass window that led to one of the ballroom balconies with his arms folded.

“Would you like to dance?”, Conrad approached him and discreetly lend him a hand.

The spy snorted.

“Captain. I was startin’ to think that, out of habit, you forgot _again_ ‘bout me…”

“You’re cruel, Yozak”, Conrad replied and crossed his arms too, now irritated.

“Am I?”, the redhead snapped back, harsh, “Wasn’t it _you_?”

“Is _everything_ I do wrong? I’m growing tired of it. It’s exhausting.”, he spouted and Yozak looked at him in a mixture of bitterness and sadness and then glanced away without answering.

“Exactly how many more times do I have to apologize to you before you _stop_ this?”

“Sorry, Conrad, but I’m not up for a quarrel, today. So, please, leave me alone. If you’d like, you can try again tomorrow. Maybe you’ll be luckier.”, Yozak stated in a caustic tone _especially_ reserved for him and the brunet just left, now deeply annoyed and his mood smashed up.

-&-

“Hey…”, Yuuri approached his godfather after a dance with an astonishingly beautiful – but a little bit dull – damsel. “How about going for a little stroll?”, he suggested and, lightly sighing, Conrad nodded under a murderous gaze from the redhead spy – a gaze that went unnoticed by the double black, who lost the ‘exchange’ from before between the two of them and just sensed something was wrong with his godfather by merely glimpsing at him.

“Do you feel like you can talk to me about it?”, Yuuri asked once they reached in silence the fountain in one of the inner courtyards and sat on the edge on the dry side of it.

“There’s nothing in particular, Yuuri…”, he said, and it was unusual for the soldier to call him by name without a scolding.

“Conrad: you can’t deceive me. You should know by now… at least tell me you don’t feel like talking, and _not_ that there’s nothing.”, the king pointed out and the brunet hided his emotions behind his usual smile, but sighed resigned.

“You know me too well.”, Conrad replied after a long silence. “But I really don’t feel like talking so, please, let me enjoy your company until it’s time to go back to say goodnight to the guests.”, he asked him and Yuuri, now brightly and reassuringly smiling at him, put his hand on his godfather’s one and gently squeezed it.

“Sure”


	4. Time to fight and time to win!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! :)  
> This is the next-to-last chapter for this first part!
> 
> And, when I said this was going to be a Murata/Wolfram chapter, EVERYBODY ELSE decided that they wanted their moment of glory... so, for Ken and Wolf you will have to wait until the end of this chapter and - mainly - the next one. (And for that reason the chapter title isn't exactly the one I told you would have been...)  
> But I'm satisfied of it! :D
> 
> By the way...  
> PLEASE, ENJOY THIS NEW CHAPTER! :D  
> (and, please, close an eye on my grammar mistakes... I repeat: english is not my native language, and it's the first time I write a story NOT in italian...)

It was ten in the morning of the second day of celebration and everybody was already around the big arena staged for the occasion.

The second day was the day of the exhibition duels!

During that day everybody could go down into the arena and challenge to a duel – an elemental one, a sword one or both of them together – whoever they wanted, without restrictions of ranks or sex.

And, this year with no exception since ninety-eight years before – when they knew each other – Anissina was the first one to step out.

“GWENDAL!”, she shouted as every year – the very same words as ever – “I CHALLENGE YOU TO AN ELEMENTAL DUEL!”

And Gwendal, as every year, heaved a deep sigh and went down, entering from the opposite gate placed by the spectators’ side.

“Would you please _stop_ challenging me? It’s more than futile: it’s _inane_! I’m an earth mazoku, and you are a _lightning_ one. Earth is _thunderbolt_ - _resistant_! Please: get over it!”

“This year I will smash you down with my new invention!”

“You say that _every_ _year_ …”, Gwendal sighed, resigned, rubbing his temples with a starting headache. “You are one of the Three Great Witches – no-one would dare to call it into question – but you _can’t_ fight against _nature_!”

But Anissina abruptly burst into laughter.

“I admit that all these years I’ve been a little bit naïve trying to win you with my thunderbolts, with or without machines, _but_ that was also because, until now, I wasn’t able to accomplish my _ultimate_ aim, so I had to compromise between my ability and my purpose.”, and she started to laugh again. “Gwendal: I am glad to introduce you to my Tornado-Generator-kun!!”, she stated with a big evil smile and, despite himself, Gwendal froze.

“Tornado…”, he repeated skeptical but undoubtedly at least a little bit tense.

More than a half of Anissina’s creations didn’t work, and the harder the task, higher the failure probability, but she also was the one who brought Shinou to life in a material form with one of her inventions…

“Yes, my dear Gwen! Gunter helped me to understand the physical phenomena behind the winds generation and we experimented together the relation between drafts and thunderstorms.”, she explained to him and Gwendal glared at the Wind Wielder with a death look in his eyes that shook him more than a little.

“ _I am deeply sorry, Gwendal! She threatened me!_ ”, Gunter shouted at him and more than one hardly kept from laughing.

“ _Details_! The result is all that matters!! And this time it will be _your_ defeat!”, Anissina stated in her naturally-loud voice and continued to evilly laugh.

“So! _En garde!_ ”, she exclaimed and, thanks to Neith the Weaver of Destruction – the warrior goddess with whom she made a contract when she was still young –, she threw her most powerful thunderbolt at the mirrored-box on the ground that she called Tornado-Generator-kun a few moments ago without needing for explicit pleas as almost _all_ the Mazoku did, and waited with a grin on her face.

And when the sky darkened and a thunderstorm appeared in the sky above them, Gwendal instinctively shrank back of half a step and gulped.

He could sense it: the strong up and down drafts forming above them.

The Wind was the Earth natural enemy, and he was bound to Enki – one of the most powerful Earth gods –  and Enki _alone_ – by a similar kind of bond as Wolfram had with Agni –, and an _univocal_ and _strict_ bond with a god included great privileges as much as devastating disadvantages in situations like this one…

As much as his little brother had physical problems the moment he stepped on a ship or a boat, he was affected by strong winds and, well, a tornado was a little bit _far_ too much to stand for everybody, and for him in a _particular_ way!

“FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE! STOP IT THIS INSTANT! I SURRENDER!!”, he shouted at her when a whirlwind started to form in the sky and grew bigger every moment.

“I am positive I am not able to do what you asked me to, Gwen, sorry…”, she stated calm while thinking about something.

“ARE YOU PLANNING TO KILL ME, YOU MAD WITCH!?!”

“Obviously not, my dear. I just wanted to show you the power of my creation. Maybe I overdid it a little bit.”

A thunder roared in the air and made every hair on Gwendal’s body stand on end.

“A little bit?! _A LITTLE BIT?!_ ”, he repeated astonished and, despite himself, scared _to death_.

At that point the Maoh was going to intervene when Gunter suddenly entered the arena.

“Oh powerful Iskur, great god of all hurricanes, I plead for your help in this moment of need: I beseech you, becalm this storm and turn this whirlwind into a soft summer breeze. Dissipate this excess energy through me: I will lend it to you as a repayment for your kindness and benevolence to the request of this humble servant of yours!”, the demon in white stated serious, his eyes shut during his plea and his arms striving above his head, his palms up to the sky.

The twister started to funnel to his hands direction and spun around his body in a downdraft and then in an updraft again, making his long silver hair wave in the air above his head and his white long robe wrap his slender body in a sensual way that, for an instant, made Gwendal forget about his visceral fear in total admiration of his terrific beauty and frightening power.

Then the updraft raised above his head again and pierced the sky and, wildly twirling around, absorbed the dark clouds in a vortex that fast thinned and disappeared.

The crowd burst into a spontaneous applause and Gunter, after a quick glance at Gwendal, bowed and smiled at them to attract their attention on him instead of the shaken Earth Wielder.

“Gwen. Are yo—”, Anissina started but was silenced by a glare of pure hatred from the dark grey-haired man.

“Gunter, please, escort me out, far from this _mad witch_. And _the far, the_ _better_.”, he burst out, bitterly, and Gunter, after a quick and conflicted gaze to Anissina, obeyed with a deep sigh and a sad face and turned his back on her too, following the other man.

And the woman, wounded in her pride and feelings, left the arena through the opposite gate speeding up the pace.

-&-

Dorcascos, who was recruited for the ‘speaker job’ for the day, waited a few minutes for a message about the first match and, at the end, declared it null and the show went on.

The next to go down into the arena was Alford: another predictable duel…

“I challenge Sir Conrad Weller!”, the hero declared in a loud voice and the brunet soldier smiled at this and entered the arena by the other gate.

“Hello, Alford!”, he calmly greeted the dark-blond man in front of him, who was already prepared to fight with his sword unsheathed.

“Conrad!”, he answered, everything in him already settled on their duel. “This time I will win over you!”, he stated and Conrad smiled at him the same way a grandfather smiles to his eight-years-old nephew.

“Show me” was all the captain answered back before drawing his own sword, his unnerving smile still on his face, and he waited for the younger man to attack him first.

And, for the first time, Alford, despite his evident keen desire to attack him right away, quelled the urge to do it and waited.

“I see you finally learned this lesson!”, Conrad grinned at him, amused, and in a quick and fluid movement he approached him and attacked first. He went for a straight high hit with the solely intent to make him parry it and open his guard on both sides.

Usually a hit like this was a sure loss in a couple of strikes, but Conrad wanted to take measures and to have fun, and he grinned at the shock on Alford’s face to his ‘novice’s move’.

But he was the Lion of Lüttenberg, and he was able to use this beginner technique and still win with almost no effort.

There was _only_ one person he had to be careful and pay the maximum attention in a duel if he wanted to win, and he was Gunter.

He was able to accomplish the task once – during an exhibition duel for the Maoh at the Academy, now four years before – but, now that the mazoku knew he could win over him, Conrad wasn’t sure for a second victory right away, because now Gunter was prepared to his present self.

But, thankfully for his own pride, he still didn’t have had to try his luck again after that time.

After many ‘easy’ attacks and parries, he recollected from his own train of thought when Alford tried a better lunge to his ribs, but he dodged on the side and struck back, gaining an easy victory after almost a fifteen minute-show.

“You got better, Alford!”, he stated with a smile and the dark-blond man sighed.

“But it’s still a long and hard way to go, isn’t it?”, he answered and Conrad just smiled at him in response.

‘ _Indeed_ ’, he thought while bowing and then each of them left the arena to the next duelists.

-&-

Wolfram was going to enter when someone jostled him aside and took his place crossing the gate first.

“LORD VON VOLTAIRE!!!”, Lord von Rochefort shouted. “HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE MY SWEET ANISSINA?!”

The crowd suddenly got silent and the man inside the arena carried on.

“YOU _COWARD_!! SHE FINALLY WON AGAINST YOU AND YOU NULLIFIED THE DUEL!! AREN’T YOU _ASHAMED OF YOURSELF_?! AND LORD VON CHRIST HAD TO COME DOWN AND _RESCUE_ YOU!! I WILL REGAIN HER SHATTERED PRIDE WINNING AGAINST YOU!! HAVE YOU HEARD, ANISSINA, MY LOVE?! I WILL WIN FOR YOU!!”

A pulsing vein on Gwendal’s temple almost popped and an eyebrow tilted up; his mouth half opened in shock for Lord von Rochefort’s impudence.

He took a moment to recover from the surprise but, when he did, he started to chuckle, and it was an unusual as much as frightening view.

Almost a minute passed until Gwendal moved for the _second_ time already to the gate, and the ground trembled where his feet hit the soil, propagating the vibration in circular waves that dissipated a few meters by him.

“Lord von Rochefort”, the General spoke in a scathing voice, “you should pay more attention to your words. I was _not_ the one who decided to invalidate our duel: it was _the Maoh_ , so, if you would like to complain, please, feel free to go directly to _him_. By the way, although I don’t believe she needs someone else’s interference, you can have her, if you wish.”

“GWENDAL!! HOW DARE YOU!!”, the redhead mad scientist woman shouted out loud plowing through the crowd and reaching the first line of seats around the stage. “HOW CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!”

The proud mazoku briefly turned his gaze at Anissina and glared at her.

“You deserve it.”, he stated calm but still caustic. “You have to learn how to live in the real world, and, given that you are _incapable_ of learning it the normal way, I will teach you _the_ _hard_ _way_. Nevertheless”, he continued, “this is no more about you. _You_ ”, he pointed out, now looking back at his impudent challenger, “deliberately _insulted_ me. Prepare to pay every single word of yours back _with interest_.”, he stated in a composed but harsh voice and the earth under his feet quaked again.

“You can’t intimidate me with _my own_ element, Lord von Voltaire!”, the other man stated back with complete impunity while Gwendal glared at him with all his cynicism and Anissina, almost driven to tears despite herself, left in the same way she approached before: basically with brute force, physical and of mind, leaving an empty path through the crowd where she passed.

“We will see.”, the General hissed back to his provocation and, in a roaring voice, he summoned Enki with just his name. Then, briefly kneeling, he pressed his right hand on the ground and, the same instant, a myriad of sharp rock thorns popped up, aiming at his opponent’s throat and stopping at less than a centimeter from it.

Lord von Rochefort gulped and, after a short prayer, the rock turned into mud and fell down.

At response to Gwendal’s attack, the man tried to open a void under his feet, but, without even faltering, soil materialized under his enemy and, while the General heavily walked in his direction, a path formed and was left behind by his firm pace.

The man could nothing against it, so he tried to create a barrier between them, but it was easily scattered away by his arm, that crossed it as it was totally inexistent.

Then Gwendal grabbed him by his collar and, using his opponent’s body to tear the wall apart completely, he finally pulled him at a few inches from his nose.

“Any resistance against me is _futile_ , Lord von Rochefort.”, he stated dryly and knocked him on his back in a single movement and, the instant later, the man was totally paralyzed by a soil-bands tight cage.

Still shocked, Lord von Rochefort needed a few seconds to understand what happened and to free himself, but, at the time, Gwendal had already left, his victory overwhelming.

The other man cried his disappointment in frustration and, when the staff came in to help him out, he struggled and complained.

“ _Please_ , my lord”, one of von Voltaire’s soldiers working as a maintenance man, deeply annoyed by his attitude, invited him: “leave the arena _this instant_. It has to be restored from the damages _you_ have caused so that the tournament should go on.”

“Me! It’s all _his_ fault!!”, he pointed out, but the soldier just glared at him in silence, radiating a calm and threatening aura similar to the one his General did: actually, everyone of his soldiers found Gwendal von Voltaire a sort of idol and life-example and, for that reason, everyone of them unconsciously started and tried to emulate him out of admiration, trying to be or become worth of being called _his_ _Guard_.

So, muttering complaints and protests, the man quitted, leaving them to their job.

-&-

When Lord von Rochefort passed through the gate, Wolfram mumbled a couple of unintelligible words, and, suddenly, the older man’s sleeve shirttail caught fire.

“YOU _LITTLE_ … _Lord Von Bielefeld_!!”, the man shouted and corrected himself while dousing the small flames spreading rapidly through his shirt.

“Apologies… my hand slipped.”, Wolfram stated back and glanced at him with a derisive look.

“You _clearly_ made it on purpose!!”, Lord von Rochefort complained, openly upset.

“You are mistaken, my lord. I was only igniting myself for my duel and you happened to pass by at the wrong moment!”, but he glanced at him with a defiant look in his eyes and now an open and unnerving grin on his face.

“ _You Little Lord Brat!_ ”, he spouted.

“…as – if I did not misheard – my brother already suggested to you, you should pay more attention to your words, my lord… should I remind you about yesterday’s Maoh’s opening speech?”, he insinuated and then crossed the gate leaving the older and obnoxious man behind.

“ELIZABETH!”, he called her in a loud voice so to be sure she could hear him. “I challenge you to a Fire Duel!”, he concluded when he saw her approaching fast.

“Challenge accepted!”, she wildly smiled at his best friend while entering the arena too and her fire-dragon Tiamel, first guardian of Tiamat the dragon goddess with whom she allied, appeared, his flame-coils wrapped around her body.

Elizabeth wore her sword and a brown attire with trousers and boots, similar to Gisela’s usual uniform – or any other soldier’s uniform –, because she knew at least Wolfram would have challenged her today and she prepared herself for it.

Wolfram summoned Lexus, his fire-lion, who approached him and, proudly as his master’s usual attitude, walked around him showing off.

The demon briefly caressed him on the withers, his green eyes fiercely burning while reflecting the flames of the two fire-beasts on the duel field.

“I missed you at last year’s tournament, Liz. A pity you started your journey before the end of the festivities summer season…”, he told her and casted a big dark-red fireball at her.

With no need for words Tiamel engulfed it and grew a bit bigger, but to absorb someone other’s fire power made him change color and pass from his natural dark-yellow to a light-orange.

Wolfram, grinning in total excitement for the sting of battle, threw at her as many fireballs as to make her dragon double his initial measures but become of the same color of his own fire – deep blood-red.

“Had the recent events made you stupid? You’re feeding my dragon! How do you plan to win this way?”, she scoffed at him but he grinned at her, making her raise an eyebrow, a little bit confused about his reaction to her defiant words, uttered in order to mock him and certainly not to make him laugh.

“ _What?!_ ”, she asked then, but the smirk on Wolfram’s lips widened in response.

“Let me show you…”, he suggested and, grinning evilly, he straightened and pointed his arms at her dragon. “In Agni’s name, the _Greatest_ between Fire Gods”, he solemnly dared to state, “I summon the Hellfire’s Flames of Destruction!”, and Elizabeth froze while her dragon became blue with just a few yellow veining and started to combust from the inside until the moment it exploded in a myriad of light-blue and yellow sparks that scattered through the air leaving her _and_ the crowd speechless for a few moments.

“ _How did you—_ ”, she started, shocked, but then she fiercely bowed. “Where did you learn this trick?”

“During the last one and a half year, I studied Mazoku _mythology_ , my dear.”, he explained to her still smirking. “And I drew my deductions…” and, at that statement, the sage, who was watching the matches, grinned amazed and made a decision.

“I would like to delve deeper into the issue later, but,  _now_ , what about a sword-fighting rematch?”, Elizabeth proposed with renewed fire in her eyes: as much as her best friend, she was a bad loser, and, as if it wasn’t enough, she rarely did lose, neither against Wolfram nor against his fiancé.

“With pleasure, Liz!” he smiled at her with the same resolution in his eyes and he unsheathed his sword and prepared on his guard, waiting for her, who was the one who asked for turning the tables on him, to attack first.

The woman charged with all her might and pointed at the curve between Wolfram’s neck and right shoulder.

The right one was his dominant arm _and_ his weak point in parries – as she knew very well –, but he knew _her_ very well, and he knew she _always_ aimed or tried to aim there when they fought.

They were perfectly balanced in sword-fights, and, when they dueled, the winner was _never_ predictable from the start, making their duels the crowd’s favorites between all.

And Wolfram was well aware of the fact that every time she won over him, she did it with that same blow.

It followed almost ten minute of racing fight when Wolfram seemed, for an instant, to be in advantage and ready to win over her and, when the situation quickly reversed and the man risked to lose, the crowd started to cry out loud their support to him and the duel went on.

“Your fans did grow _significantly_ in number now that you are single again, it seems!”, she casted a knowing smile at him and winked, and Wolfram, in response, turned slightly pink.

“It’s a low move to try to distract me this way, Liz! You should know it’s still a delicate issue…”, he pouted and she smirked, getting near enough in a quickly movement before retreating again to whisper something that reached only his ears and that colored his cheeks of an embarrassed bright red.

“ _LIZ_!!”, he shouted and quickly retreated, this time dodging aside with more difficult than his usual fluent and at the same time mettlesome movements, when she tried to aim to his weak point now that he was distracted. “ _Don’t cheat_!!”

“You are not denying!”, she bantered him smirking and totally ignoring his last compliant and he got even redder than before.

“And you better mind your own business!!”, Wolfram retorted, getting angrier every second.

Elizabeth chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah…”

“ _Elizabeth_!! _Stop it!_ ”, he stressed his words, still red on the face. “RIGHT NOW!!”, he ordered, but that made her chuckle more.

“Wolfie, you are so naïf! So sweet!!”, she grinned and smiled and smirked at him and when, fed up by her haughty and allusive words, Wolfram lowered just a little bit his guard, she struck at his weak point and, stopping a few inches from his neck, she waited Wolfram to lower his sword in defeat.

And he had to do it, because technically she won, but he was more than upset about it.

“You can’t count it as a victory, Liz! _You cheated!!_ ”, he protested and more than half of the crowd seemed to agree with him, but, content, she grinned at his best friend, not before searching and founding for a certain someone in the crowd and crossing a fleeting glance with them.

“All is fair in love and war…”, she suggested and, in a lower tone that only Wolfram could hear she added, “If I were you, I would wait for _something_ , and pretty soon, I dare say…” and, with these words, she left the arena leaving a confused and flustered Wolfram in front of everybody and the young mazoku, despite himself, wasn’t able to refrain from searching for someone with a glimpse in the crowd and his heart pounding hard in his chest.

And, when their glances crossed, Wolfram’s mind filled itself with a single thought.

‘ _Fuck… I fear she’s right…_ ’

-&-

After lunch, in a lull in the duels, a group of six nobles who studied under Gunter at the Academy when Conrad did, went to Dorcascos and had a little chat with him before leaving again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention for a moment, please?”, the speaker said and waited for the crowd to quiet down before continuing. “We have a demand for the next duel.”, he stated and people started to murmur. “I know it is quite unusual, but I believe that _everybody_ would like to watch _this_.”

The murmurs became chatters.

“Everybody knows that, four years ago during an exhibition duel for the Maoh visit at the Academy, a former student outdid his teacher in the art of fencing.”, he suggested and, through the now excited crowd, a little group of soldiers started to whip up the audience clamoring for Lord von Christ.

Dorcascos raised a hand and the people quieted down a little.

“Given that only the students, the Maoh and a few more assisted to his defeat, after his astounding performance from before there are at least his former students that want to see with their own very eyes if it is true their idol was beaten or if Sir Weller had just a fluke!”

“ _IT WASN’T A FLUKE!!!_ ”, one of Conrad’s men shouted and overwhelmed the chatters, and that opened a competition between Gunter’s and Conrad’s fans, that started to shout out loud their idols’ names.

“AND, FOR THIS REASON, WE ASK FOR LORD VON CHRIST’S _REVENGE_!!”, Dorcascos shouted too and it caused an ovation.

And Conrad froze with a smile on his face, more than a little tense while thinking if maybe he called for it himself before, when he thought about it during his duel with Alford…

He searched for Gunter in the crowd and found him at the opposite side of the arena, blatantly flustered for all the attention on him, looking at the ground.

Then, after a moment, the white mazoku broke into an hysterical laughter and tried to refuse, but the crowd cried louder, clamoring for him.

“Father… I think you should go…”, Gisela said calmly to his adopted parent and gently smiled at him while putting a hand on his arm as moral support.

“But dear… I am _too_ _old_ for these sort of things!”, he answered, bright red in the face.

“The more you’ll refuse, the more they’ll ask for it.”, Gwendal stated with the same calm Gisela showed while approaching them from behind, so, defeated, Gunter searched for Conrad’s eyes in the crowd and, when he found them, he shrugged at him and, heaving a sigh, he went to the nearest gate of the arena, generating a standing ovation when he entered.

So Conrad made the same and, with his fans’ moral support, he went on his guard, prepared to fight and, as always, he found himself staring at the fascinating swift change in his former teacher’s eyes, attitude and aura while Gunter got in the mood for a sword duel.

“Charming, isn’t he?” and Gwendal, totally captivated since the moment Gunter went down into the arena, _almost_ answered ‘yes’ to his own mother’s remark and imperceptibly jolted when he realized _who_ approached him – knowing her – for a not-so-innocent small talk.

“As you say” was all that her first son replied to her but she knew better than this…

“He is always a beautiful view, so elegant and graceful in his movements, and he knows how to valorize his own body with those long robes of his, don’t you agree?”, she asked him but Gwendal didn’t find his mother’s words worth a comment, so, after a short silence, Lady Cheri continued with her – unwanted – remarks.

“It’s understandable he has so many fans. More than half of the audience is literally drooling over him. Look!”, and she discreetly pointed at a group of ladies not too distant from them and, the moment later, to a small group of _his own_ soldiers.

And he couldn’t refrain himself from looking at them and memorizing which of his men to reprimand later for their dirty gawks. And then he remembered he couldn’t and, unconsciously, grinded and raised an eyebrow, annoyed.

“Don’t you believe he should be very good in bed? If he is astonishingly sensual with his robe still on, I am sure that, in his birthday suit, he must be breathtaking, with his long silver hair on his shoulders and along his back…”, she suggested in a knowing grin to her son.

“And why should I know, _mother_?”, he spit out in a caustic voice, his eyebrow still raised and his perfect composure _intact_ despite her malicious remarks; but she didn’t miss to notice that his son _never_ took off his eyes from him, not a single moment since the duel started, and it was more than five minutes by now.

“I _never_ said you should know it!”, she widely smiled at him. “I was just asking about your _opinion_ about it!”

“Oh, then, apologies, mother.”, Gwendal passed to a sarcastic tone. “I correct myself: why should I _care_?”

“You can’t deceive a mother’s look, Gwen, my dear…”, she insinuated and for the first time since their ‘conversation’ started he glanced at her in the eyes, a little tense despite himself.

And in that same instant which he took his eyes off the duel to put them on his mother, a standing ovation almost deafened him, marking the end of the match.

And he lost that moment…

He turned just in time to see Gunter lowering down his sword from Conrad’s throat and the both of them bowing at each other.

“SEE?! IT WAS A FLUKE!! I KNEW IT!!”, someone screamed in the crowd when the ovation was almost over and that statement soon degenerated in many, many others from both sides and it equally soon got physical.

“I am deeply sorry I can’t continue this conversation with you, mother”, Gwendal sarcastically and bitterly stated after a couple of minutes, “but I have to break up a fight. So, if you may excuse me!”, and the woman just smirked at him and left him go.

And after less than five minutes there was a crowd out of the gates of the arena, waiting for their turn to settle the score.

Then, when everything was back in order in the bleachers, Gwendal ‘accidentally’ crossed his path with Gunter and whispered to him a single word, “ _Tonight_ ”, before leaving for the arena gates to prevent the starting of new fights while the duelists waited for their turn, each faction out of a gate.

And, at that very word, a trickle of blood poured down Gunter’s nose before he could notice, and, after a few moments, ‘equally accidentally’ passing by, Lady Cheri lent him her handkerchief and, with a knowing smirk, she left too, leaving the white mazoku in a total panic.

-&-

After more than two hours, at a quarter to five in the afternoon, finally, the gates to the arena were empty again and Conrad went down for the third time, but, this time, he showed up at _the_ _challenger’s_ gate.

When he entered, murmurs spread through the audience once again.

“I challenge Yozak Gurrier to a sword fight”, he formally declared, his usual smile gone, and the crowd went silent for a long moment while his mother smirked knowingly and at least his two brothers raised an eyebrow and rolled their eyes sighing while thinking: ‘ _So they fought again…_ ’, because they knew their relationship was something ‘complicated’…

And Yuuri, startled, scratched his head and assisted attentively, deciding to absolutely understand what was going on between them two.

Yozak took his time to go down and, once inside the arena, he threw at Conrad a murderous glare.

“What’s that about?”, he asked him in a sharp voice.

“I want to gamble, Yozak.”, and the man snorted at that statement.

“What’s at stake?”, he cut short, visibly angry, and it was quite unusual to see that expression on his face and to hear that particular tone of voice.

“You will stop your futile complaints. _Forever_. I’m tired of your victim complex. It’s _wearing_!”, he told him so that his opponent was the only one that could hear his words, and Yozak, in response, burst into laughter and went on for almost a minute, when he abruptly stopped and, with a defiant glance and a hand on his hip, he answered, dead-serious: “It’s _impossible_. You deserve it.”, and his voice, unlike Conrad’s, was _perfectly_ audible to their audience.

“ _Then_!”, Sir Weller shouted before going back to a volume for the redhead spy’s ears _only_ , “If I win, you will come to my quarters _every night_ you are at the castle or we are together in a mission, _until next year_.”, and the last three words were the only ones in a loud voice.

“ _Are you kidding?!_ ”, Yozak cried, startled and disappointed.

“Does it seem like a joke to you?”, was his public response, and the redhead raised an eyebrow.

“Until the end of this festivity!”, was his counteroffer out loud so that everybody could hear.

“Now _you_ are kidding! At least a _month_!”, Conrad strongly protested.

“A week!”

“ _Two_.”, and his tone brooked no argument.

“…okay, two.”, Yozak conceded at last, “But, if _I_ win”, he added strangely serious and so that _everybody_ could listen, “you will _publicly_ announce what you decided to leave _unsaid_.”, he stated dryly, and Conrad raised an eyebrow, visibly caught off-guard.

“It is totally _unwise_ to tell it now, Yozak, don’t you think?”

“Given that my chances of victory are very low, the stakes must be very high, _don’t you think?_ ”, he bitterly repeated and, as only answer, Conrad drew his sword and attacked first, finally starting their duel.

And, although their fight was – at the end and thanks to their stakes – closer than his one with Alford, as expected Conrad won quite easily.

“I’m a man of my word, but, just so you know, this farce was a low blow.”, Yozak indignantly said before leaving, but Conrad words stopped him halfway.

“But it was also the _only way_ to convince you. Am I right?”

“You didn’t try anything else…”, the redhead icily replied and then left.

-&-

After that the Maoh was going to close the exhibition duels day and to announce the transfer inside the castle for dinner and dances, but an unpredictable and unprecedented occurrence postponed his announcement.

The Great Sage walked down the stairs and reached the challengers’ gate, entering the arena.

Everybody got dumbstruck, no exceptions, and he smirked at the crowd’s reaction, because he _loved_ to be in the limelight and now _everybody_ was looking at him… everybody hung off his words and actions, impatiently waiting for what would have come next!

“I challenge Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld to a _maryoku_ duel.”, and he didn’t say ‘elemental’ duel because he had no elemental power: but – as _no_ - _one_ actually knew because Shinou, during their first life, got rid of every trace of that notion so that he couldn’t be able to find anything about it – his original race was _the Lost_ _Race_ , the one that didn’t _need_ to bond with elemental gods to have power because they were the Mazoku’s ‘ _Divine_ ’ Race and their power was _innate_ as the Houryoku was innate in the Seisunakoku Race.

And, while Wolfram tried to recover from the shock reaching the opponent’s gate in a _very slow pace_ , Lord Waltrana sighed deeply and, rolling his eyes, he made a mental face-palm allowing himself to a – very rare for his mouth – curse in an extremely low voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was really hard to write this chapter, because action is not my forte, but I'm really proud of it! :D  
> So, I hope you enjoyed it too!
> 
> NB_1: at the end, about Murata and the Soukoku race, I invented everything and this will be one of my 'theories' that will be recalled later in the last chapter and in the sequel of this first part.
> 
> NB_2: when I say it was Anissina who 'brought Shinou to life in a material form', THIS IS CANON, and I was shocked too. It's in chapter 105 (or 106?, I don't remember exactly) of the manga, so, if someone would like to read it, send me a message and I'll pass the last 4 chapters translated in english to you! ;)  
> Sadly, after the big void from ch. 69, I have only ch. 105 to 108, and it's completely different from the anime, but it's better than nothing at all... don't you think? ;)
> 
> That's all for now so...  
> See you in the next - and last - chapter of this first part of the Roll with the Wind Series!
> 
> Bye and thanks for reading! :D


	5. How To Tame A Wild Lion...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here, at last, the last chapter for this first part of story!!
> 
> As always: forgive me for my grammar mistakes...
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy the reading :D
> 
> PS: Sorry for Conrad's fans... in this story he's not a very nice character... the truth is that I don't really like him - I'm more quite indifferent to him, but here, I don't know why, he is like this... - ... but I love Yozak, so... in the future it will get better (btw, still not here, sorry...)

“You certainly took your time to come down, my lord…”, Ken provoked him once they were one in front of the other in the middle of the arena stage.

“Are you _that_ impatient to get hammered by me, Your Eminence?”, he replied equally provocative and Ken’s smirk widened in an evil smile.

“Once, you told me that ‘every race has stakes’, so I will turn your previous question on you: what would you like me to put at stake in this duel of ours? You can choose _everything_.”, he declared and the crowd’s tongues went _wild_ at the sage’s last statement – or more last _word_.

And clearly Wolfram’s mind went blank at the same word because he repeated “ _Everything_?” in a feeble as much as incredulous voice. “Are you sure?”

Ken just shrugged briefly, his grin still there on his lips and in his eyes, and Wolfram gulped, excited and afraid at the same time, his throat parched, his lips dry and his breath short.

With his last burst of clear mind he refrained himself from answering right away.

“What do you want _me_ to put at stake, Geika?”, he asked him but, widening again his grin in a mischievous smile, Ken slightly shook his head.

“One question at a time, my lord. I asked you first.”, and Wolfram grinded and clenched his fists, irritated.

“ _Then_ ”, he shouted, deeply annoyed. “if I win, you will bow on your knees to me in front of _everybody_ and _swear_ you will _never_ _again_ molest me in any way, and you will swear in Shinou’s name. Now, what do _you_ want from me if _you_ win?”

And Ken smiled at him in an enigmatic way.

“A dance, and a little talk”, he calmly but solemnly stated, and Wolfram – as much as the entire audience – remained speechless and, in the crowd, Waltrana wasn’t the only one who heaved a very deep sigh for Wolfram’s impudence.

“ _Only_?!”, Wolfram couldn’t refrain himself from asking.

“What? Were you actually hoping to go for seconds?”, he maliciously suggested and the blond unconsciously bit his bottom lip, his hand lightly shivering, but he quickly recovered from the shock and, crossing his arms on his chest, he declared in his arrogant tone: “ _Never._ ”

“…if you say so…”

“ _And_ ”, Wolfram spit out at that point, already pretty near total exasperation, “stop harassing me, I said.”

“You’ve still _not_ won, my lord. That was our deal, wasn’t it?”

“ _Fine_!”, he spouted, and, shutting his eyes and muttering Agni’s name, his arms now along his body and his palms open in the sage’s direction, two blood-red fireballs big as twice his hands appeared over them. Then he opened his eyes again and, inflamed with anticipation for their fight in which their honor and pride was on the line, he shot them together to his opponent.

And Ken, smirking and licking his own lips with Wolfram’s same feeling of expectation burning him from the inside, just bended his arms and, his palms abruptly wide open, each one directed to a fireball, tilting his hands a little behind, he deflected them from their ray of action to the sky, where they spectacularly exploded, many meters above their heads, one against the other in a loud roar that left the audience startled and breathless.

And Wolfram smiled wildly, his pupils widened in total excitement for the sting of battle.

He _loved_ that feeling: the challenge, the gambling, and a rival who kept up with him!

And he loved _this_ _game_.

And yes: he was playing with fire. The sage – and his uncle too – were right from the start about it…

It was an unnerving feeling, but he had to admit that the _arousal_ was far more overwhelming.

He bit his lower lip and he started to pant, feeling sizzling, and Ken enjoyed the view and, rather than attacking right away, he decided to wait for another strike from his rival to let him show off and to admire his astounding beauty while inflamed.

And the blond, meeting his expectations, raised his arms and hands to the sky and this time he _shouted_ Agni’s name while pure fire ignited his emerald eyes and a rain of flames started to pour from the sky over them, obviously leaving the Fire Wielder unharmed.

But Ken stayed still and, without the need for a single move, the same flames popped and crackled all around him before they could reach his body, an amused grin drawn on his lips while his eyes never left Wolfram’s.

And before the demon could record what happened exactly, the sage distracted him from his thoughts on purpose.

“Is it finally _my_ turn?”, Ken asked, smirking at him in a provocative way, and, before Wolfram could answer back, he entered his mind’s defenses and crushed them down, leaving the blond on his knees, panting heavily and totally paralyzed.

It took him less than half a minute to recover because Ken didn’t strike hard as he did it with the villains three weeks before, but it was a strong blow in Wolfram’s perceptive.

“At least I know you will suffer it later too…”, he wheezed in a feeble voice when he was able to speak again, his head spinning.

“Although it might not seem to you, it was a weak blow, so the consequences for me will be minimal.”, Ken calmly explained and Wolfram, standing up again, looked at him in a _strange_ way before silently summoning his Lexus and gently caressing his withers while murmuring a few words audible only to his fire-beast.

“I’m sorry…”, he said in a whisper, “I know it’s futile, but for my pride I have to try. _We_ have to try.”, he told to his lion and the beast attacked with all his might.

Unfortunately, a mere hand drawn at his direction made Lexus explode in a myriad of red and blue sparks through the air, and that silenced the crowd for a few minutes in total disbelief.

Everybody read at least _one_ mythology book when they were young before going to bed, and everybody knew about the Dragons of Destruction, the Lost Race.

They were shocked to see the power of destruction that morning, but Wolfram’s strike against Elizabeth’s fire-dragon wasn’t the ‘real thing’ but more a kind of a clever trick, because he manipulated _his own_ fire to accomplish that move; but now, in front of their very eyes, the sage used another power _entirely_ , a power that Mazoku didn’t have, a power of which they only read in children’s books or in old mythology texts!

_It was a legend!_

And the Daikenja never showed his _true_ and _full_ power to anybody before, at least in the last four-thousand years: it was the first time, and it made an unprecedented uproar through the audience.

Wolfram deeply bowed in defeat and, for the first time in all his life – ‘ _or maybe the second?_ ’, he asked himself –, he experimented the _pleasure_ _of_ _losing_ , a sensation he felt _only_ when the sage was concerned, because he had always _hated_ to lose in everything!

And in that precise moment he fully realized how much the Great Sage was _special_ to him and the real extent of his own perdition already… and Lady Sybil – despite himself and his attempts to hide the evidence – was right: he already and hopelessly had fallen for him… and, although he deeply loved Yuuri, he never felt that way for him before…

But the sage was only playing with him one of his tricky, perverted and sensual games that surely ended in bed and lasted no more than a night, as already happened for Lady Sybil and many others of the Daikenja’s previous playmates…

And this feeling was _devastating_! But he could do _absolutely_ _nothing_ about it, totally powerless to the—

“Lord von Bielefeld”, Ken started, approaching him a little, and he spoke so that everybody could listen to his words, taking him from his train of thought. “I must admit I was _amazed_ ”, he remarked, “by your morning performance with Lady Elizabeth. Your trick was a clever one”, he explained, “and I must say that I _never_ saw any Mazoku fight this way _before you_.”, then, after a brief pause, he added out loud “You are totally _worth_ my attention, _Wolfram_ ”, his name the only word whispered for his ears only and Wolfram’s face turned bright red despite himself to the sound that his own name had out of the sage’s lips.

“You jerk!”, Wolfram hissed in response in a low voice, his face still red. “I already told you I don’t need to be deceived again! Stop trying to seduce me for your own pleasure! You _can’t_ succeed.”, he lied, but he had to…

“Please, stop with your lucubration.”, was all Ken replied in a low voice and, under everybody’s astonished eyes, he got nearer and, grabbing Wolfram’s left hand in his right he brought it to his mouth and lightly brushed his lips on the white skin of the back of the blond’s hand, never drawing his own gaze from Wolfram’s eyes while doing so.

Then, gently smiling at him – and it was a smile as similar to his usual unnerving smirk as the night to the day – he left the arena leaving on the Maoh the burden to distract the crowd’s attention from Wolfram and to finally invite the guests inside.

-&-

“Murata… do you mind?”, Yuuri asked his friend nodding at the balcony glass-door in order to make him follow him outside once the celebration successfully moved inside the castle.

Ken just shrugged with a resigned sigh and followed.

“What.”, the sage stated more than asked, visibly annoyed and without trying to hide it, when everybody on the balcony left after a resolute glance of their Maoh to them.

“And you have the guts to ask me!”, the king uttered in a low voice to avoid attention from inside, but his eyes and tone were cold.

Ken merely smirked at him, accomplishing the only result of making him angrier.

“What’s your game?”, Yuuri spouted, menacingly, but Ken replied with an even more threatening glare.

“Stay out of this, Shibuya. It doesn’t concern you, _king or not_.”, he pointed out when he saw the Maoh was going to use the same excuse than the day before to pry into his business, and Yuuri raised an eyebrow.

“You publicly humiliated and ridiculed him.”

“Maybe you weren’t paying attention, but I made the _exact_ _opposite_.”, he stated with his usual cryptic and unnerving smirk.

“Are you kidding?! Or do you think I’m stupid?”, Yuuri asked him, incredulous to his own ears.

“I praised him in front of everybody.”, Ken explained in the same tone he would have done it to a little child.

“And, _before_ , you made him pass for an arrogant brat with your stupid stakes-stuff!”, he answered back.

“But _he is_ an arrogant brat. An arrogant brat who must be tamed.”, he clarified and Yuuri’s eyes widened.

“ _Tamed_?”, he repeated, shocked by the use of a word he didn’t wait to even _appear_ in their conversation…

“Yes.”

“Did you forget about yesterday’s promise to me? You said you would have clarified with him before the end of these festivities. It seems to me that, with your acts, you are making things _worse_ rather than better.”, Yuuri stated, dryly.

“I still have almost a day and a half, and everything is going smoothly, although it might not seem like that to you…”, he insinuated and then left with an evil look in his eyes, hidden behind the reflex on his lenses spectacles, and a hint of a smirk on his lips.

And now, finally, it was time to watch his prey’s last flashes of resolution and pride deteriorate while awaiting to pay his pawn to him…

-&-

“May I have the pleasure of this next dance?”, a little more than a child in the appearance approached the Maoh’s daughter, who was over a foot taller than him now that she grew up, and formally asked her for a dance.

“I don’t know…”, she messed about, smirking in a similar way to Wolfram’s when he actually wanted to accept but didn’t want to say ‘yes’ right away.

“Then what about a walk?”, Lindsey insisted, still too naïf to understand it was just a pose and she snorted in response, still a smaller copy of her blond father.

“Come on, Greta!! _Pleeease_!!”, he begged her as a child would have done and, in human years, the little demon’s age actually corresponded, more or less, to a twelve – thirteen at the most – years old boy; but she liked him because he was naïf, and it was fun to stay by his side and to play hiding Shinou, or hide and seek, or just to explore around with him…

“Let’s go pick flowers!”, she suggested but Lindsey seemed uncertain.

“It’s getting dark, Greta… they are already closing!”

“Well… if you don’t want to…”, she sulked a little and Lindsey started to panic.

“NONONO!! _Never said ‘no’!!_ If you want we can go!!”

So she smiled at him and, grabbing his hand, she run outside and, once they were alone near the woods limit, she hid behind a large log and, pulling him with her, she lightly kissed him on his mouth in a quick brushing of lips before leaving him go and actively starting searching for flowers.

And, as every time she did it – and he lost count – he couldn’t stop gawking at her in a daze for a few minutes after that, totally amazed and slowly starting to understand what being in love meant.

…and she knew it, and – like father, like daughter – she enjoyed their little game of cat and mouse very much…

-&-

It was ten to midnight and the sage still hadn’t claimed his dance with him.

‘ _Did he intend to lay claim to his prize tomorrow night and not today?_ ’

Wolfram was actually fearing it might have been the case… the sage didn’t specify, actually…

And, probably mostly because of their ‘promised dance’, Wolfram wasn’t able to take his eyes off him for even a second; neither he ate anything, his stomach being in knots since then.

He watched him all night, and he saw _how_ he cleverly and expertly avoided him.

Yuuri, as much as his brothers, his mother, Elizabeth, Greta and even Lady Sybil and his uncle went to speak to him, to cherish him or, in the last case, to reprimand him for his impudence, but his mind was set on the sage _only_ , and everybody realized that much – the said sage included…

He was never good at concealing his emotions, at hiding them behind an impenetrable wall like the Daikenja always did: if he was angry it showed on his face and attitude as much as if he was annoyed, or excited, or happy or sad… or powerlessly and devastatingly in love with the wrong person _again_ …

He gritted his teeth in frustration and clenched his fists, his arms tight along his body when he lost his breath, despite himself, in anticipation.

The sage went to the orchestra before – given the hour – the _last_ dance for that second night of celebration.

He saw him speaking with the orchestra leader: they exchanged a few words and he could read the _shock_ on the musician’s face although he was on the other side of the ballroom at the moment.

Then Wolfram watched the sage cross the room aiming at him, and his heart started to beat furiously.

He clenched his jaw and then bit his lower lip, his pupils dilated in anticipation.

The truth was that he was _craving_ to dance with him, and he cursed himself for this, but he could do nothing against his inner desire that was literally eating him alive.

‘ _So disarming and enraging!_ ’, he thought, closing his eyes for an instant in a frustrated resignation.

Then Ken reached him and, grinning in a puzzling way, he _kneeled_ in front of him never taking off his onyx eyes from his and he extended his hand, finally claiming for the dance he owed.

“What the heck are you doing!”, Wolfram exclaimed more than asked in a faint voice, totally horrified by the sage’s gesture: you just don’t kneel in front of anybody to ask them for a dance!!

“I’m claiming my prize and, this time, you won’t run away as you did last time.”

“ _How dare you affirm I ran away last time?!_ I _kept_ my word and you had what you won!”, Wolfram now shouted in disbelief, not caring about their _big_ audience around them: what the hell was the sage trying to insinuate?!

“By the way”, the double black continued, calmly, still on his knee, “now it’s irrelevant.”

“It’s _NOT_! You’re calling into question my word and my acts, but you had what you asked for. I lost and I gave you what you claimed as your prize! _You can’t deny it!!_ ”

“I believe you misunderstood more than an issue, here, Lord von Bielefeld…”, he stated easygoing and smirked at him, and Wolfram froze a little, remembering in a flash _that_ night in the forest, when the sage used these exact words once before for something quite embarrassing. “Now, may I have the pleasure of this dance with you? The orchestra is waiting for us.”, he changed topic and Wolfram, deciding not to think about the sage’s last statement, turned pink, recalling only then that the Daikenja kneeled in front of him and that he _still_ was in that position.

He gulped in response and averted his gaze while reluctantly giving him his hand and following him through the crowd to the center of the dance floor.

And, at a nod from the sage, the orchestra leader turned to the musicians again.

Wolfram needed a moment to recognize the music piece because it wasn’t that popular anymore in elite and nobility balls – although in country and town festivals it still was in vogue – and he literally froze when he understood, as much startled as _everybody else_ in the ballroom – who really couldn’t blame Lord von Bielefeld’s _stunned_ reaction, at least this once, and who soon left the floor to just watch them dance together.

The only one who needed an explanation of what was going on was Yuuri, because he never heard that tune before and the orchestra hadn’t a singer to sing that song and to make it easier for the Maoh to understand the _implications_ in the choice of _this_ particular piece for their dance.

And, when Conrad explained to him what was actually happening, Yuuri, sighing in resignation, silently cursed his friend: why couldn’t he say it from the start?! He would have understood and he wouldn’t have worried so much!!

‘ _Damn Murata…_ ’, he thought but smiled relieved, because now he was finally sure that everything was going to be ok… _somehow_ …

“ _Wha_ —”, Wolfram started to ask, still in total disbelief, but Ken gently shushed him and, after a few moments, he pulled him closer and he started to sing in the old language into his ear what Wolfram thought that might be the old version of this traditional love song – because the words were a little different in that version, and a little more incisive and strong than in modern one –, and Ken’s voice was thin but clear and in tune and sucked away his breath and _definitely_ stole his heart.

When the music ended, then, Ken deeply bowed at him and, squeezing Wolfram’s hand before letting it go, he silently prayed the demon to follow him outside and Wolfram, still in a daze, just obeyed, totally uncaring of the glances thrown at them by the crowd.

“…what was all that for?”, Wolfram broke the silence between them after almost five minutes passed sit on the tuff edge of his mother’s flowerbed in the main garden. “First the duel… _no_ , first your cryptic words the other day, three weeks ago”, he corrected himself, “then the race and your claim as a prize, and after that the duel, the kiss on my hand, and then the long waiting and now _that_ _song_ …”

“You made too many _wrong_ assumptions in your unwarranted paranoid lucubration until now, Wolfram.”, Ken stated, not really answering to his question or, at least, not _directly_ answering to it.

“What do you mean?”

“You still don’t understand?”, Ken retorted and Wolfram’s cheeks turned bright red under the moon’s light.

“Why did you do all this? If you really were serious about me, why couldn’t you say it clearly from the start? Why do you always have to play your little games? They drive me crazy! _You_ drive me crazy!!”, the blond stated and asked when he was able to speak again, in a mixture of anger and frustration and confusion, and Ken smirked at him while looking into his eyes without hiding his excited gaze.

“Everything was for a purpose. Well, if you hadn’t left me like that at Vanela yesterday morning, maybe there wouldn’t have been the need for all of this. You didn’t give me the occasion to explain to you which were my intentions and you got angry and started to avoid me and my attempts to talk to you in private…”

“You are too cryptic! _How_ could I understand?!”, Wolfram protested and Ken lightly laughed.

“…and I thought I was being quite obvious…”

“You are a fucking _flirt_ and you said yourself _more than once_ that you bedded many people here and on Earth!”, the blond defended himself.

“But I als— Wolfram”, he changed his mind and for the second time he used his name to collect his attention, sighing resigned, “you were right, yesterday morning, at least about _one_ thing.”

“And what would this thing be?”, Wolfram raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms on his chest while pivoting on his right leg, his arrogant attitude back.

“I was actually trying to make you fall in love with me.”, Ken stated seriously looking into his eyes without faltering, and Wolfram’s heart stopped for a second before he started hyperventilating, eyes and mouth exaggeratedly wide open. “By the way”, the double black continued, “I would like to point out two things… first, you enjoyed this game as much as I did, and _second_ ”, he added quickly when he saw the blond was ready to protest on his first statement, “you _needed_ to be tamed, _my wild lion_.”, he concluded, resolute, and then, in a rapid move, he grabbed his chin in his hand and stole him a fierce kiss that made Wolfram’s knees yield.

“You’re a damn pervert!! And if there is anyone that must be tamed, here, that one would be _you_ , you _wild beast_! Or should I say dragon, maybe?”, he retorted when the sage let him go, after just a couple of seconds for recovering part of his composure, and Ken burst into laughter in response.

“There’s nothing to laugh about!”, Wolfram shouted and Ken, abruptly passing to an evil grin, grabbed the demon’s face in his hands and, drawing him near, he bit hard his left cheek leaving a clear teeth mark on it.

“ _OUCH!!!_ ”, Wolfram cried and broke off from him, astonished, bringing his fingers on his bitten cheek. “ARE YOU CRAZY?!? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”

“I’m acting the part of the wild beast – or wild dragon, as you prefer – you just asserted I was and, like any self-respected wild beast, I was _marking my hunting ground_ , my dear.”, was Ken’s quick answer and Wolfram’s eyebrows tilted up, wrinkling his forehead.

“You ARE crazy!”, he stated, still in shock, but he received an unnerving smirk in response.

“And you are _mine_.”, the sage declared, madly angering the blond and proud demon who left deeply annoyed, not even deigning him of a reply. But, unseen by the other one, the both of them smiled in satisfaction while departing from each other…

-&-

“At last…”, Conrad stated dryly at half past two in the morning, putting the book he was reading while waiting on the bedside table near him when he heard his quarters door opening.

“Unlike some people, I was _working_. Your brother doesn’t allow me to leave before the last guests are ‘safely out of the way’.”, he tartly answered back.

“Yozak, I want you. _Now_.”, Conrad cut short, ignoring Yozak’s last statement.

“Oh, Captain!”, the spy exclaimed with emphasis and a defiant smile. “This is _entirely_ another issue here! This _wasn’t_ part of our stakes! Otherwise I would have _never_ accepted in the first place!”

“Yoz—”

“As you already know, you lost this privilege twenty-five years ago, or maybe should I say _thirty-six_? Because I didn’t have to be the skillful spy I am to hear the gossips, or your mother’s or even _your brothers’_ hints about you and Julia. And let’s say that, since Heika’s arrival six years ago, day by day you’re digging your own grave deeper and deeper. Did you even notice?”

“Are you still at that?! It seemed to me that we rode it out a long time ago already!”

“You know, Captain: I’m good at pretending everything’s ok for everybody’s sake, but these days I’m not in the mood for closing an eye… by the way, until it’s ok for you to be fucked by me, I won’t complain. So, with that in mind, you can start to strip yourself so that I can screw you and then we can finally go to sleep.”, he evilly smiled at him and Conrad saw red.

He abruptly stood up and grabbed Yozak’s collar, unceremoniously throwing the other man on his bed. Then he climbed onto him, a knee between the redhead’s legs to emphasize his intentions.

“Tonight I will have you, Yozak. _No matter what_.”, Conrad glared at him, full resolution into his eyes.

“As I already said”, Yozak stated in a calm and derisive voice, “NEVER. EVER. AGAIN!” he concluded icily and, in a quick and expert maneuver, he swapped their position and his previous deceiving smile came back. “You may be better than me with your sword, but you can’t win over me in a hand-to-hand combat, Conrad.”, he stated, victoriously, “And now, if you wanna fuck, I’ll fuck you bowlegged! And, maybe, it will loosen me up! By the way, I can’t assure you anything about that… It’s a take or leave. Bets are officially open!”, he insinuated with a mad grin, but Conrad, this time not surrendering as he always did once at that point, took him by surprise and punched him hard in the stomach leaving him breathless and startling him enough to take back his previous position over him.

“I’m totally _fed up_ with your _crap_ , Yozak!” Conrad hissed at him, exasperated. “I’ve had enough! You have to learn your place!”

“You dickhead bastard! You just try to lay a hand over me and I _swear_ it by Shinou that you’ll _never_ see me again, not here nor anywhere else!”, Yozak growled coughing twice but dead serious, and Conrad might have sensed it because he actually stepped back.

“Yozak…”, he started, regaining at least part of his usual composure and partly regretting his move, but the spy, now, was livid in an icy way.

“By the way: _you_ ’re fed up, _HUSBAND_?!”, he retorted, and Conrad couldn’t refrain from lightly shivering because he knew that when Yozak arrived to call him _that_ it was like opening a forbidden box… “Wanna talk about me, you jerk? ‘ _You know me too well. Please let me enjoy your company until it’s time to go back to say goodnight to the guests_.’”, he aped him quoting his very words of the night before to Yuuri, and Conrad froze.

“What?”, Yozak evilly grinned at him, in a terribly angry mood. “I know you didn’t sense my presence, yesterday night.”, he stated. “You’re getting rusty, my dear. Or I’m getting better at sneaking around unseen!”, he pointed out, mockingly, and Conrad, over a barrel, grabbed him by his collar getting on the defensive.

“Oh! We’re getting physical, here, I see…”, Yozak scoffed at him, “You slimy brown nose, it’s comforting been near your Julia again, isn’t it?! Better than being faithful to your husband!”

“He is NOT Julia and—”, Conrad started to reply but Yozak just snorted and interrupted him.

“Oh! You sure you really think so? Because it didn’t seem like that to me! And I’m quite sure at least _your mother_ shares the same opinion as I on this particular matter…”, he insinuated and Conrad, irate and at a loss for good points in his favor, tried to punch him again, but this time Yozak dodged on the side and stopped his fist in his own open palm and then blocked it in his hand, a provocative look into his eyes.

“Do you know what this punch of yours means, don’t ya?”, and when Conrad didn’t reply he went on “You have no good arguments on your behalf…”

“Shut up!”

“SCREW YOU”, Yozak abruptly raised his voice shutting him up but soon went back to a lower and sharper tone. “You didn’t have the right to look at her in the first place. She was someone else’s! And _worse_ : _YOU_ were someone else’s!! And no matter what, you still continue to look at him as if he’s _yours_! I can’t blame your little brother’s jealousy over you when he still was engaged to Heika! You tried to steal him away from him, and you knew Wolfram _loved_ him. That _I_ loved _you_! But who cares about _us_ when you finally have your Julia back, is it?!”, Yozak glared at him with a murderous look into his eyes.

And Conrad, in response, pointed his forefinger against his chest once and rested it there, accusingly.

“Let me ask you this”, he stated, icily, “ _why_ your bet, then? What was the meaning of _your_ ‘stake’?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m tired of watching you drooling over Heika! …oh, apologies… _Julia_!”

“You’re talking crap, Yozak. Do you even realize that? But no, I don’t think so…”

“The only one who’s denying the obvious is you, _husband_. Or do you really believe I’m stupid?!”

“Bullshits!”

“It would be funny to tell Heika about us! I would really like to see his face at that!”

“You aren’t serious!”

“Why not? Maybe he left your brother for a reason! Although I’m sorry, but I don’t think so: I fear for you that he just can’t see men in _that_ way… A real pity, isn’t it? And, if he knew you jerk off _every morning_ , after practice with him, murmuring his name when you’re married to me, I’m sure you’ll lose your place at his side and who knows? Maybe your position too other than _your face_! And then you’ll never be able to watch him in the eyes again!”

“ _You won’t dare_!!”

“Or else what? What will you do to me?”, the spy provoked him with a derisive tone and a mischievous grin, and Conrad, as answer, punched him hard, this time in the face, and Yozak just took it with a defiant smirk.

“ _THIS IS ENOUGH!!_ ” Conrad shouted for the first time in ages and Yozak burst into laughter, licking the blood spitting from the cut on his bottom lip, but his eyes were as cold as ice and glaring resentfully and mockingly at him at the same time, not faltering even for an instant.

“You won’t mind if I go back to my room for tonight, will ya?”, the redhead spy asked him laughing openly in his face, “Anyway… you ‘won’ _fourteen_ nights! We’ll see who’ll crash first, my dear! And I have a feeling I won’t be the one…”, and Yozak, with these words, deceivably smiled at him and left not waiting for an answer and, when the redhead spy shut the door behind him, Conrad punched the wall with his left fist so hard that he broke his hand… but a visit to Gisela’s infirmary could wait ‘til morning…

-&-

It was ten to three a.m. when finally everybody graced Gwendal with their _disappearance_ into their own assigned rooms, allowing him, at last, to retire to his own quarters too.

The General sighed deeply while finally locking his door.

He really had hoped to retire sooner today, but he didn’t take into account his own mother who, as whenever there was a damn party of any sort, was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave… and, this time, he also had the feeling that she made it on purpose to wait until so late to go back to her quarters…

But it was too late to think about it or, better, to think about _anything at all_ …

He casted a glance around his parlor and sighed again: everything was covered in Gunter’s belongings, dropped everywhere around the not-at-all-small room in an organized mess.

Out of habit he went behind the dressing screen placed in the corner next to his bedroom and disrobed. Then he folded his clothing and the second before putting them down on the usual place he stopped.

‘ _Gunter…_ ’, he sighed for the third time already in a few minutes and rolled his eyes.

He didn’t dare to put his own cloths on Gunter’s ones because he _absolutely_ wasn’t in the mood of enduring his lover’s compliant about an invisible-to-everybody-except-him new wrinkle on his robe that he ‘obviously made on purpose’ the morning later…

It was the first time they decided to sleep together _without_ Anissina and, although it seemed exciting, in a first place, to pass the night with Gunter alone, he was already regretting it, at least in part…

When Anissina was around, she was the one that fought for her own space between Gunter’s ‘conquer lands’ and he usually used that space for his own things too, because Anissina didn’t care at all.

Being together the three of them was always like a fight: a fight for possession, a fight for leading, a fight for space, a fight for turns… but the three of them together were perfectly balanced. Everyone played his part and everybody was satisfied in the end, and he silently found himself cursing Anissina for having driven him mad that morning, because he already missed her…

And this was their first _true_ fight they had in over ten months that this new equilibrium took place between them, so he wasn’t sure at all about _how_ to manage the situation with the proud woman…

But it was too late in the night to try to think about that too, so he just decided to put his own cloths wherever he would have found a place, and the sofa ‘won the privilege’ of receiving his belongings for the night.

And when, finally, he reached his bedchamber, he sighed _again_.

Gunter was lying across his large bed in his birthday suit and in a ‘star position’, his legs wide open, an arm over his head and the other one grabbing his pillow, his long silver hair everywhere and the bed sheet covering just a leg of his.

He quietly closed the door behind him and approached the older demon, snorting a little when he saw a line of drool on the side of his slightly open mouth dying on his pillow and he heard him lightly snoring.

“I truly can’t tell whether you are cool or uncool…”, he whispered to himself while sitting on the edge of his bed, being careful not to sit on Gunter’s hair in the meanwhile.

He delicately roamed his fingers along the bare skin of his lover’s chest, resting them on one of his nipples, that hardened at the light touch.

“Gwen…”, Gunter murmured in his sleep and rolled to the side, clinging to his pillow with his arms and legs, managing, with that involuntarily sweet move, to get a smile out of him.

“You are definitely endearing… you recall me of my Tweedledee…”

“…’m not a bunny…”, Gunter mumbled in his sleep again, pouting, and Gwendal abruptly burst into laughter, waking him up with a jolt.

“ _Gwen!!_ ”, he shouted, startled, “Wha—what were you doing!?”

“…enjoying the view…” was all that he answered and Gunter turned bright red in the face.

“What time is it?”, the silver-haired man asked, his voice still a little bit drowsy, while playing with a lock of his own hair.

“Very late…”, Gwendal answered and Gunter sighed.

“Do you want to sleep?”, he asked him back, but was unable to hide the sadness and the disappointment in his voice, and Gwendal gently caressed his cheek in response, comforting him.

“No.”, he stated and lowered himself to kiss him, making Gunter smile widely the instant later: he was so obvious in everything and so honest in showing his feelings and his states of mind… it was comforting to have a person like this near him, although sometimes it certainly was exhausting too – but it wasn’t the case right now…

And Gunter, in a burst of passion and happiness, wrapped his arms around his neck and enthusiastically responded to the kiss, now wide awake – his lower half included –, and Gwendal just went with the flow, taking what was his, before lying on the bed ready to sleep what still lasted of the night.

“I love you, Gwen.”, Gunter stated giving him a goodnight kiss and cuddling up on his right, in his usual place.

“Me too” was the austere demon’s answer, but, despite himself and the ‘full’ side on his right, he missed his other half on his left…

-&-

The morning after, for more than one, exhaustion was taking its toll due to lack of sleep and, despite the early hour, the mere idea of another full day of celebration until midnight or later was wearing.

The third day, given that finally after six years since his arrival the Maoh was going to participate for the first time at the event, it was scheduled a baseball match in his honor, soldiers versus villagers.

The play had been going on for less than half an hour when Yuuri discreetly put a hand on the one of his right-hand man.

“What’s up, Conrad?”, he asked him in a low voice. He loved baseball, but he really couldn’t pay attention to the game when his godfather was like that!

And strangely enough the man moved his hand away from his touch… and it actually was rare…

“Nothing, your majesty. You should pay attention to the game. People are playing for you.”, he pointed out in a detached way and Yuuri raised an eyebrow.

“Listen, Conrad: you’re acting strange since the other night, and I can’t stand to watch you like that without doing anything. Did you have a fight with Yozak?”, he asked and Conrad, despite himself, flinched a little.

It would have been imperceptible for other people, but Yuuri could feel when something was wrong about Conrad without even looking at him, and now he was actually looking.

“I think this answer enough…”, he stated after a long tense silence from the captain and the man glanced away and, unconsciously, looked in Yozak’s direction only to find him glaring at him with a despising grin, as telling him ‘See? You can’t hide the truth! Go cry on Julia’s – ops, Heika’s – shoulder, you coward! I can see you…’.

“Please, Heika. It’s not important so, please, cheer for the players and don’t care for me. I’m ok.”

“No, you obviously are _not_!”, Yuuri insisted raising his voice enough to attract attention from Gwendal and Ken who were pretty near them, but that instant the villagers’ team struck-out one of the castle team’s pinch hitter causing an ovation in the crowd and distracting the two from their little commotion.

“Yuuri, please. It’s not the place.”, he stated serious and in a very low voice, calling him by name hoping that it would have been enough to quiet him down, and it eventually succeeded because Yuuri shut up and fixed his eyes on the match only from that moment on until the end, when the villagers won by a hair on the castle team.

Then the Maoh decided that at least for the day he would have left things as they were and, if that continued, he would have taken up the issue after the festivities, when life at the castle would have gone back to normal.

-&-

“Oh, sweetheart! You lost the match this morning! What happened?”, Ken asked Wolfram with a knowing grin drawn on his face when the blond showed himself for the first time of the day _at_ _lunch_.

“Well, not that I owe you an explanation!”, he bitterly answered and the sage knew that he might have had some problems getting rid of the teeth-mark on his cheek because he was livid, and he was it just with him.

“I missed you, honey…”, Ken widened his grin into a mischievous smile and this – to the double black’s great satisfaction – made Wolfram flush despite himself.

“And stop calling me names, you pervert!!”, he replied, sharply, but he also bit his bottom lip as every time he was excited or embarrassed about something.

And if Wolfram ‘enjoyed’ the game, he enjoyed the _hunting_ pretty much.

“Would you grace me with your _assistance_ while I go inside for a little _job_?”, he insinuated and Wolfram turned bright red in the face.

“Thank you, but _NO_ , _thank you_! I believe you can perfectly manage alone, you pervert of a sage!”

“I insist…”

“And I _repeat_!!”

“ _Please_ , Lord von Bielefeld”, Ken stated bowing to him and voluntarily attracting attention from people around them that soon started to wag their tongues about Wolfram’s arrogance toward who was higher in rank than him.

“You dirty— _oh_ , _geez_! I _hate you_ when you behave like that!! You always find a way to make me out to be the one at fault!!”, he snorted far more than annoyed and started to literally fume at Ken’s reply “I love you too, my dear!”.

“And shut your mouth or I _promise_ I’ll shut it for you!!”, Wolfram spouted and menacingly grabbed him by his collar, but Ken widened his smile again and whispered into his ear: “About that, I’d like to suggest you a way for keeping your promise, and I’ll gladly collaborate…”

“YOU PERVERT!! DEPRAVED!! _MANIAC_!! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!”, Wolfram shouted out loud pushing him away, as always not caring at all about their audience, and this once Gwendal, who passed by at the moment, was ready to intervene when the Maoh beat him to the draw.

“Hoy hoy… what’s happening here?”

“ _Oh, Yuuri_! Just try to _guess_! You know him, don’t you?! So, _please_ , do something with _your best friend_ ’s behavior for me before I’ll fry him alive or, if my fire can do nothing against him, _before I’ll beat him to a pulp_!” and, to everybody’s astonishment, Ken started to chuckle at the blond’s comment.

“HEY! There’s nothing to laugh about, _you_ _Ero-Geika_!”, he drew dangerously near him and pointed his finger at his chest, their noses almost touching. “So stop it _right now_! And stop harassing me! Do you understand?!”, Wolfram threatened him, but Ken’s smirk didn’t fade from his face and, when Yuuri was going to separate them before things degenerated, the sage stopped the king from intervening with a mere glance.

“Honestly, I believe that the only thing we should do right now is to go somewhere else and work this out _in private_ , my wild lion…”, he stated and Wolfram turned red and hesitated just a moment at the pet name, remembering the night before and the mark on his cheek that he worked so hard to wipe away…

“ _FINE!_ ”, Wolfram conceded at last, knowing that they would have better ended their conversation in private although he had absolutely no intention of humoring him, but he was still irritated, and he left in his usual arrogant attitude. Then Ken, after a quick bow to the curious crowd that had formed around them in the meanwhile, followed him with a smirk on his face, for the Maoh’s, Gwendal’s and Waltrana’s exasperation.

-&-

“It’s the first time I’m allowed into your quarters, Wolfram…”, Ken pointed out once inside in an unreadable tone, the door locked up by him just in case…

“Neither Yuuri was here before.”, Wolfram stated, now calmer, “It was always me who went to his rooms…”, he remembered in a slightly bitter tone, “Only Greta, and, well, my mother and brothers entered…”, he soon changed topic, “but it was a rare occurrence.”

At these words Ken’s eyes sparkled with a strange light while, without a word, he approached him in a few heavy and slow steps in a threatening way until he was at a few inches from him.

Wolfram, startled by that completely new attitude, moved back until he reached an obstacle behind his foot that happened to be one of the two red armchair in the middle of the room and was forced to stop.

“ _What’re you doing, for Shinou’s sake!!_ Stop yours—mmm!!”, Ken shut his mouth with a fierce kiss.

“WHAT THE HECK—”, started to protest when the sage released his lips but not his chest from his grip.

“There’s only _one_ name that is allowed out of these voluptuous lips of yours when we’re alone, and it is _mine_ _and_ _mine only_. Not _his_ , not Shibuya’s nor anybody else’s. You hear me?!”, Ken stated if possible more serious and threatening than he had ever been since the first time they met and Wolfram lost his breath, because to be desired so much was a totally new experience for him, and, despite everything, it was an heart-filling sensation…

“ _Did you hear me?!_ ”, Ken repeated to his silence and Wolfram smirked.

“We are getting quite jealous and possessive, here, it seems…”

“You instigated me, my lovely lion.”, Ken conceded at last after a sigh and Wolfram bit his lower lip.

“I did nothing, you pervert beast.”

“Your mere existence is sinful, Wolfram, and I lost too many things in all my lives for losing you now that you are finally mine.”, the sage stated solemnly and possessive, and Wolfram turned slightly pink on the cheeks.

“I’m still not yours…”, the blond demon insinuated recovering the instant later, but was interrupted by a grave tone.

“ _Rubbish_! You can’t fight the Fates. No-one can, neither him.”

“What do you mean?”, Wolfram abruptly stopped their little game and watched into his eyes as black as night, suddenly serious.

“…it’s irrelevant now, my love…”, Ken answered after a second – a second too late –, like realizing only then about his mistake, but looking back into his eyes as much serious as his destined one was.

“Stop deciding what’s irrelevant and what is not in _my_ place!”, Wolfram reprimanded him and Ken, sighing resigned after a moment of surprise, kissed him now gently on his lips closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry…”, he stated, totally muting the blond. “You are right. Although I’m quite sure I’m speaking too much…”, Ken’s voice now mysteriously far away with a tone that unsettled him. “Well, you must know that—”, Ken started to explain when Wolfram put his right forefinger on his lips, shushing him.

“You know what?”, the blond interrupted, “It’s quite against my nature, but I’m sure _this once_ I don’t really need to know this…”

“You sure?”, Ken’s black orbs inquired him more than his words and Wolfram kissed him on the cheek in response.

“I’m sure. Thank you.”, he answered and he didn’t miss to notice how relieved the sage seemed at his assertion.

“Would you dance with me, today?”, Ken abruptly asked him and, strangely enough, there weren’t allusions or subtle meanings in his request. Truthfully it was more a plea than a question, and it was a tone so odd out of the sage’s usually allusive and deceiving lips that he actually couldn’t say ‘no’…

“Gladly”, Wolfram firmly replied without a single doubt and he smiled at him in a way so much endearing that Ken felt like it was _the_ _first_ _time_ he ever saw a smile in all his lives. Then the sage stepped back and, with a deep bow and a distant and cryptic smile of his, he unlocked the door and just left.

-&-

“Why are you here with the horses instead of being inside? There are still two hours left to midnight, isn’t it?”

“Adalbert! What are you doing here?”, Gisela exclaimed, startled but happy in the sober way typical of her – in total contrast with her father’s – to see him after so long. “It’s already two and a half years since last time we met.”

“Lord von Voltaire asked for my presence for tomorrow afternoon’s Council meeting and I thought that maybe this once I should have come.”

“About Dai Shimaron?”

“So you heard about it too…”

“I talked to Yozak when he came back four days ago. He was quite a mess, and it’s rare for him… Is it really so bad there?”

“It’s getting worse day by day…”

“I didn’t know the General asked you to come too, but I’m glad to see you after so long.”, she slightly smiled at him and he sighed.

“It’s painful to be here again, and under his request in particular… also, I hate this place.”, he admitted and her face darkened a little while her heart got heavier. “How can you stand this place? Seriously, I can’t understand it.”, he continued and she definitively lost her smile.

“It’s better now with Heika…”

“I’m sure of it”, he stated flatly and then, abruptly, changed topic. “By the way, how are you?”

She discreetly averted her eyes.

“The same. And you?”

“You stole my words.”

She slightly smiled at him and he did the same.

“Listen.”, Adalbert started again after a short but comfortable silence, getting, tactless as he always was, to a very touchy subject for the healer. “What about leaving with me after the meeting? I need someone like you beside me to help. You are a strong woman and it’s a hard time for people in Dai Shimaron. You could be very helpful there… more than you are here.”

“This is my place, near my father, and here I have my duties to him and to the troops. Maybe one day I will follow you, but it’s still not the right time, and your motives are still the wrong ones. I’m sorry, Adalbert. Now, you must be tired… I’ll go look for someone to arrange a room for you for the night.”, she said and started to leave when he grabbed her wrist.

“I’m not ready yet to start again with someone else…sorry…”, he looked sadly into her bright-green eyes and then he let her go.

“I know… maybe one day you will and, if that day will finally come, I will follow you.”, she replied and just left, heartbroken behind the thick walls where she hid her feelings, because she liked him since the old days of the Academy… since far before she knew he was Julia’s, her best friend since childhood…

-&-

“Would you like to dance, Captain? You seem gloomy tonight! Maybe a dance can relieve you a little!”, Yozak approached Conrad with a big smile on his face and an easygoing tone of his voice.

“You win, Yozak.”, Conrad stated, not moving of an inch from where he was.

“What are you talking about, Captain?!”, he faked a confused and surprised tone but grinned at him, knowing exactly what he meant and enjoying his victory and his small revenge.

“Quit this masquerade. You know what I meant.”

“Oh, but you’re wrong!”

“Do I have to tell you fair and square?! Ok, Yozak: I’ll renounce to my ‘prize’, so you can leave me alone.”

“Oh no, Captain! I lost against you in our public duel and I’m a man of my word! You won other _thirteen_ nights with me, and you’ll have _them all_! And I was just trying to be nice to you… _husband_ ”, he whispered the last word into his ear and Conrad tensed a little and looked around to control if anyone heard them, but they were quite distant from other people at the moment and, by the way, no-one cared about them.

Yozak, in response to his reaction, widely smiled at him.

“Curse you, Yozak!”, he hissed at him knowing he called him that on purpose, but the redhead man snorted, half amused, half bitterly.

“Too late, my dear. I already am, since _forty-one_ years ago… and you ruined my birthday since then… but well, if you don’t want to dance with me, I guess it doesn’t matter: by the way we’ll see later in your quarters…”, he concluded and then left with a winning smirk, searching for someone else with whom to mess around, to flirt and to dance, and it wasn’t a difficult task at all, because less than _three_ minutes later he was already chatting with a very beautiful lady not too distant from him, winking and smiling at her in a very provocative way under his husband’s very eyes…

-&-

“Would you like to accompany me for a little walk outside before going to sleep?”, Ken asked Wolfram after midnight, when the music stopped and everybody started to retire to their own rooms.

Wolfram cocked his head to the side, trying studying his tone and his intentions but failing.

“…if you insist…”, he replied at last, a little bit on the defensive, because it was the second time of the day the sage acted strange… he was ‘normal’ until a moment before, acting in his usual provocative and unnerving way, but suddenly something changed in his tone and attitude, and Wolfram found himself a little bit disoriented by it…

Adding nothing more, Ken just leaded the way out of the ballroom and then outside of the castle.

Wolfram followed him for almost ten minutes in silence and he didn’t know what to think about the sudden change in atmosphere between them, but he didn’t dare ask.

He knew it was something serious, but he really had no idea about what it might be… did he intend to tell him what he started that afternoon when he stopped him from doing so? Or was it something else?

Well… actually it was already his birthday…

“Geika…”, Wolfram broke the silence between them but the sage turned to him and shut him up with a mere glance.

“I already told you, once: it’s Ken for you, Wolfram, so, please, call me Ken. Would you?”, he gently stated and the blond lowered his eyes and he started to slightly pant.

“Ken…”, was all he whispered back. He really wanted to ask him what was troubling him, because he was acting strange and that was deeply unsettling him, but every world died in his throat.

“Better…”, Ken smiled at him, but Wolfram could tell that his mind was distant.

“Ken… what’s wrong?”, he finally found the courage to ask him and the double black smiled in a mysterious way and, averting his gaze maybe for the first time since they met, he sighed deeply while playing with something in his right pocket.

“You know: I figured this moment to be a little different when, three days ago, I planned for this…”

“Do I need to worry?”, Wolfram asked, more than a little concerned, but he tried to maintain his cool.

“No…”, Ken snorted a little, but suddenly his eyes became strangely sad. “It’s just a bit more difficult than what I thought it would have been…”

Wolfram wrinkled his forehead in confusion.

“What do you mean? I don’t understand… Why do you always have to be so obscure when you speak? How am I supposed to know what you are thinking? Your mind is like a fortress…”

‘ _And here it is his disarming candor…_ ’, Ken thought smiling distantly.

“Please, give me your left hand, Wolfram.”, he stated, serious, in response to his comment, and the blond gasped, startled by the sudden change in his tone and the strange request.

He hesitated for a moment but then he obeyed.

“You’re trembling…”, Ken pointed out, lightly squeezing his shaky hand, but there was no derision in his voice.

“And you should be more tactful and not say it out loud! Does anyone taught you any manners in the four-thousand years you lived until now?”, Wolfram complained, now deeply embarrassed and red to the ears, lightening up the atmosphere a little with his prickly complaint.

“I really can’t say I don’t know why we were destined to be together from the start…”

“What do you mean?”, he asked again, even more confused than before, and Ken gently kissed him in response and, while doing so, he run the object that rested in his pocket for three whole days along his forth finger.

Wolfram’s heart started pounding faster and faster in his chest and, frantically and eagerly, he kissed him back.

“You’re wimpier than the Wimp! You frightened me!!”, he panted after a couple of minutes’ kiss, scolding him, but when finally he laid his eyes on the ring on his finger he almost chocked and started coughing, far over the shocked-stage.

“I gather from your reaction that you know what it is…”, Ken stated serious, looking at him in his eyes in a puzzling way, but Wolfram was still frozen on his place and, after finally stopping coughing, he just stayed still, his eyes and mouth wide open in a theatrical way.

“Are you kidding? Is— _is this a joke?!_ ”

“No. I assume it is exactly what you think it is”, the sage answered back, still glancing into his stunned green eyes while now openly studying him, “Although I must admit I’m as much surprised as you are about the fact that you _actually_ know what this ring is… or, better, who’s this ring was…”

“…there’s a painting in Bielefeld Manor… and she wears it… I thought it was lost… _everyone_ thought this heirloom was lost!”, he explained, starting panicking.

“Oh… I never knew she actually agreed to get it done… I insisted for decades…”, he absently stated and sighed, talking to himself more than to Wolfram. “She must have waited until I was gone…”, he smiled sadly. “One day I would really appreciate to see it. Can I?”, the sage finally talked to him, but the only thing he received in response was silence.

“What does that mean?”, Wolfram asked after what seemed a century, a lump in his throat: he seriously felt like crying, his eyes starting watering before he could notice, and a sudden pang in his heart sucked his breath away.

‘ _What was that?_ ’

“You don’t have to be jealous, Wolfram. You really don’t have to.”, the sage answered to his silent question before he could think about a single option himself to that.

“ _I’m jealous!?_ ”, he cried out horrified, more a statement than a real question, and Ken kissed him again in an attempt to calm him down, an attempt that eventually worked.

“Come. Let’s sit there.”, Ken gravely suggested with a nod in the direction of the marble edge of the arcade of one of the inner courts. They were in a quite isolated wing of the castle, fairly distant from the ballroom where everybody was and the nearest person to them was a guard in the hallway two corners away from them, out of their – and his – line of vision and ears.

“Wolfram”, he started taking one of his hands in his and to his lap once they took a seat on the low wall, “you are very young: you lived just ninety years, and you already deeply fell in love with two people. I lived four-thousand-three-hundred years and more and I loved only _three_ , one of them been _you_.”, Ken pointed out. “And”, he continued, “as I suppose the way you loved and love Yuuri is different from the way you love me, what I feel and felt for the three of you is different from one another. Totally and substantially different.”, he declared and then went on.      
“The first I fell in love with was Shinou”, he confessed him, because there was no more space for secrets between them, and the key to Wolfram’s heart was the sincerity, as he already knew… “since the first time I saw him. I was very young – well, a little older than you are now, to tell you the truth…”, he corrected himself. “and it was an overwhelming love, made of admiration first of all, with desire and passion at first and suffering later, when I knew him better, because he was like his father… well, _our_ father: _unfaithful_.”, he told him and Wolfram would have liked to stop him and ask him about at least _three_ issues of his statements, but he refrained himself and made him continue. “And the second was Rufus Bielefeld, your ancestor and, firstly, Shinou’s wife when she got pregnant – because he needed an heir – and then _my_ wife when he disappeared from this world after the ritual.”

“ _YOUR WIFE?!_ ”, Wolfram shouted out: what was that?! Not a single chronicle of the past reported that notion, neither the Bielefelds’ ones!

“Yes”, Ken shortly replied before going on. “Shinou chose to rewrite history a little in order to save my name and my reliability for when I would have come back again; all after Wolfgang’s treasonous acts against me when I succeeded after Shinou on the throne. He went up in arms against me, calling me ‘the usurper’, the ‘true king pulling the strings in the shadow until the time to get rid of the puppet came’. He accused me of stealing not only his father’s position, but also his dear wife…”

“And was it true?”, Wolfram interrupted him and, after a blank glance from Ken, he turned red and added: “Well… the second part…”

“Shinou’s ritual was top secret”, Ken started to answer with an half-smile, but he did it beating around the bush as always… “No one knew about it except from me, the vestals _and_ _Rufus_.”, he stated and Wolfram remained speechless. “I initially despised her, very much, because I saw her as the one who stole Shinou from me, but after he married her in order to have an heir, he soon revealed his true nature. Let’s say he loved us very much in his own way, and that being faithful certainly wasn’t his way to show it…”, he said in a flat tone. “The ring you now wear: I was the one who designed it for her. Shinou asked me to do it because he wanted to give her a gift for his heir’s birth. Cruel, don’t you think?”, Ken smiled bitterly.

“By the way, after a few months from their marriage, still during pregnancy, Shinou was already in someone else’s arms. And we soon started to take comfort by each other’s company. We never betrayed him, but his last night before the ritual we had each other, the three of us, and it was Shinou that asked me to marry her after his departure. He knew we suffered because of him, and he wanted us to be happy as much as the situation allowed. Too bad his son couldn’t understand… And that’s why, nowadays, no one knows about my relationship with your ancestor.”

Wolfram didn’t know what to say: he just looked at him with blank eyes.

“Also, when I said that Shinou had his own ‘non conventional’ way to show us his affection, I had another reason to affirm so. Our father sent him to kill all of his illegitimate brothers and sisters that he left all around the world during his long life, and I was one of them. But Shinou, when I fell in love with him, fell in love with me too, so he tried and – by sheer luck – he succeeded to save my life. I was a fine strategist, so he took me with him and made me his right-hand man and his Advisor.”

“Why did you say you didn’t love anybody else after them?”, Wolfram asked him, his green eyes into his black ones, serious and concerned. “Why? How is it possible you never found someone else?”

“Shinou, during my first life, sealed my memories – the memories of who I was, of my family, of my race, of my past and of my grudges – and I regained them after my first _death_. It took me more than three-thousand years to recover, to accept the truth and the betrayal and to forgive him, and, after that, let’s say I found a new balance… and that’s when I started to ‘appreciate the warmth’ of other bodies near mine during the night to avoid bad dreams… but it seems you were the one destined to me to make me believe in love again and, as far as I understand, you’ll also be the last one I will ever love until the end of time…”

“ _Until the end of time?! What do you mean?!_ ”, Wolfram almost shouted, startled by his statement.

“My ritual was irreversible.”, Ken simply replied and Wolfram froze.

“ _Irreversible_?!”, he repeated. “But your mission is accomplished, isn’t it? Shinou is back, and he is safe, and the Soushu is no more! Why should it be—”

“It was too risky to made a weaker pact with the Gods”, the sage interrupted him, “because weaker the pact, weaker the effects, and my soul should have deteriorated, life after life, and it could have broken anytime. What if it happened before the right time?”, Ken pointed out and Wolfram lowered his eyes.

“Life is not fair, my dear…”, the sage stated.

“But…”, Wolfram gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“By the way, my love, _this_ life is going to be maybe _the fairest_ of all of them. Despite everything, I have you, don’t I?”

“But _how_ can I compete with Shinou and my ancestor? Why should you love _me_ above all?! There are so many people, and you _had_ so many people before me… how can I be so special… so special that you can claim you _love_ me after you said you really loved _two persons_ _only_ in more than _four-thousand years_?! …or is it my appearance?”, his last question asked in a feeble voice.

Ken cupped his cheeks in response and gently brushed his lips against the blond’s ones in a chaste and affectionate kiss.

“Wolfram. I have to admit I like beautiful things, but this is entirely another matter. And neither it is because of your resemblance to Shinou and Rufus. You are you, and I like you because of that. Also,”, he suddenly changed tone and he smiled at him for the first time since they started that conversation, although it was an enigmatic smile. “I’ll tell you something I didn’t plan to tell you”, he stated and then, after a pause for effect, he added “I was jealous of Shibuya since the first time I laid my eyes on you and I saw _how_ you looked at him. I envied him, but he didn’t look at you as he should have done. And I ‘played’ with you because I wanted your attention…”

“You sadistic pervert of a sage!! How could you?! Do you have a slight idea of how much I suffered and how much I hated you?!”, Wolfram strongly complained at the comment and Ken kissed him again, but this time more passionately.

“Hate was better than indifference. At least it was a _strong_ feeling.”

“What, are you a _masochist_ , then?!”, Wolfram asked him, raising an eyebrow, the atmosphere between them now definitively defused and back to normal – or, at least, to what was normal for them.

“As I’m sure you learned these last few days – or maybe before then? – it’s more like a game. You are both, and so am I. It depends on the moment and on the mood…”, Ken suggested in a smirk and caressed his left cheek while stealing him a kiss that started soft but soon became craving.

But before Ken could ask him for more, Wolfram, with an evil smile, moved away from him.

“Goodnight, Ken”, he told him and, still grinning, made to leave when the double black grabbed his wrist.

“Are you seriously going to leave me here like that?”, he asked still incredulous, but he received a smirk as answer.

“You must be trained to keep it into your ‘honorable’ pants, _Geika_. You messed around with far too many people in the last few years at least…”, Wolfram insinuated and Ken snorted.

“You’re starting to take too much liberties… I could come to your quarters during night and take you…”, Ken suggested but Wolfram continued to smirk in a provocative way.

“I’ll lock the doors, then, so you won’t be tempted.”

“There is no lock that can take me away from my target, Wolfram, and, if needed, no _door_ …”

“You won’t risk me. You claimed you love me, so you will forbear. Won’t you?”, he replied and Ken sighed in defeat with a cryptic smile, releasing him. “By the way”, Wolfram added, “thank you for your birthday present. Because I believe you waited until after midnight for this… am I right?”

“Maybe, but you can also read it as my first courting gift… the choice is up to you…”, Ken insinuated and Wolfram turned pink and bit his bottom lip in a sensual way.

“I’ll think about it…”, he just said and left without turning back, but a big satisfied as much as embarrassed smile drew on his lips while walking away.

And Ken smiled too and sighed deeply while looking him leaving, but he felt a peace of mind he didn’t feel for a very, _very_ long time…

-&-

“Gwen, what are you doing out there? It's five in the morning…”

Gwendal was sit on the sofa in his parlor, in his housedress, intently knitting, his forehand wrinkled.

“I couldn’t sleep…”, he admitted.

“Is it about the meeting? Gisela told me Adalbert _did_ come, actually. She met him in the stable by chance a few hours ago…”

“Let's say mostly…”

And Gunter, who was by the door between the parlor and the bedchamber until then, naked and without shame of his state, decided to approach him, and then he laid down in his lap and watched him from that angle.

“Is that about Anissina, then?”

Gwendal sighed heavily, and it was answer enough.

“You should go to speak with her…”

“Maybe…”

“She didn’t show up at all after the incident in the arena… I believe she’s quite hurt… She surely didn’t want to scare you. It was – how many years? Ninety five? One hundred? – that she tried to win over you…”

“Ninety eight”, Gwendal replied without needing of thinking about it and Gunter sighed.

“Maybe you have been a little bit too harsh… You two are first of all rivals, and this never changed, not even now that we became lovers, and I know this part of your relationship doesn’t concern me, but I can see – and feel in bed too – you are suffering about this situation, and I can easily guess she feels the same as you, now.”

“I was asking myself a question…”, Gwendal abruptly changed topic, leaving Gunter a little startled. “What keeps us together? We are so different, the three of us… And me and her always argue… I really am not able to find an answer to this question…”

And Gunter suddenly chuckled in response. Then he sit down, crossed his legs and looked into his eyes, a little bit tense for just a moment, but it was enough for Gwendal to notice.

“Truthfully, Gwendal, it is an easy answer, you know?”, he pointed out, half amused, half sad for some reason.

“And would that be…?”

“You”, Gunter shortly replied and averted his eyes with a sigh.

“What?”, the dark grey haired man asked, shocked, and Gunter chckled again in a strange way.

“It’s fancy you didn’t know… but well, I guess it was more like an 'agreement' between me and Anissina, so maybe that’s why…”

“What do you mean, Gunter? I really don’t understand and I would gladly like to be made part of this matter here.”, he stated bitterly, putting down on the other side of the sofa the knitters, the thread and the ‘undefined’ stuffed animal he was working at.

“You’re making it sound like a conspiracy, Gwen… it’s nothing like that, just a favor? A courtesy? A concession? she made me. She knew I had feelings for you too. Sadly I can be very obvious sometimes… although I believe I really can’t complain about the outcome…”, he completed lowering the gaze and playing with a long silver lock, a little bit embarrassed.

“Honestly, I would like to understand what are you getting at with these statements of yours, because, seriously, I can’t follow.”

“She could have made her move on you _without_ including me, and, well… she would have had more chances of  success from the start if she did it that way, but she offered me to try this _together_ , although the rating of success in that case was far lower…”

“Why do you say so? Why should it have been lower this way?”

“ _’Why’_ you ask? Come on, Gwendal!”, Gunter snorted, incredulous. “How many chances actually were there? We have an _illicit_ relationship, and we are risking our position, our good name and our reputation! And I have a daughter, an heir! She’s risking it too because of me and my immoral behavior!”

“Then why did you put at risk all of this? I know that Anissina is crazy and doesn’t give a damn about this kind of things, but you… why?”, Gwendal asked him, serious, and Gunter started to laugh in hysterics and then started to cry.

“Because I love you! I would have done everything, given the chance! You know I’m a romantic!”, he sniffed and Gwendal, hearing exactly what he wanted to hear, cupped his face in his hands and dried off the tears from his cheeks with his thumbs, gently.

“Then why didn’t you try before?”, he insisted.

“Because I thought you would have refused me?”

“But you had – and still have – no shame with Heika! You disgraced yourself for him! Come on! The _diaries_?! And you dare say you actually feared my refusal? What kind of an excuse is this?!”, Gwendal suddenly complained and, in front of his jealousy, Gunter blushed furiously.

“Well… that… you know… it’s a long story…”, Gunter stuttered, deeply embarrassed.

“I have time.”, he replied dryly and Gunter got even redder in the face, if possible.

“You obviously never read them – my diaries –”, he specified when he read confusion on his lover’s face, “or else you wouldn’t ask me this now… but Anissina did.”, he concluded looking into Gwendal’s blue eyes and that made now the younger demon turn slightly pink in response.

“By the way”, Gwendal broke the tense silence fallen between them after Gunter’s last statement, “I believe _this_ is the _only_ way it could have worked – and can work – between us. Because I love the two of you, and I want the two of you, and, maybe for _the_ _first_ _time_ in all my life I don’t really care of dishonoring my house if I know I can have the both of you for me, so I think I’ll talk with Anissina as soon as possible, although I fear it might have to wait until the other Nobles will leave, after the meeting and the decision… that I hope will take only tomorrow. Also, the fact that Adalbert accepted my invitation to the meeting is quite worrisome. It must mean the situation in Dai Shimaron and in the neighbor countries is getting worse and worse every moment…”, he pointed out, going back to his bigger – and first – matter of concern, that was the main reason for his total lack of sleep that night.

“What do you want to propose to the Council?”, the older demon asked him once he recollected enough.

“The main issue is not what _I_ would like to propose, but _how_ _Heika_ will react to that: the situation is getting more and more similar to the one before the last war, Gunter…”, Gwendal explained and then added, tense and concerned: “I seriously fear for a new war…”

 

END OF PART 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> It was so long and so hard to finish this chapter... XD
> 
> See you in next part - that I don't know when I'll be able to start to write and post, because I have to work at my (damn) thesis too... but it could also be that I'll start right away! XD Still don't know! We will see! :) Also, I need some time to arrange what will come next, because in this first part I changed many things from my previous italian version, so it changes everything (or many many many little things...) At least now this first part will remain like this! XD

**Author's Note:**

> Please, feel free to tell me what you think about this story!! Because I love it, but I'm the author, so I guess it doesn't count! XD  
> No, seriously: I would really apprectiate to know your opinion!


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